MAISON&OBJET Americas
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/503691
t h e a m er i ca s m&O m&O Zanine earned a degree in industrial design from Pontifíca Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro in 2002. A year later he opened his own atelier, producing furniture and sculpture from reclaimed materials, includ- ing fne exotic hardwoods that he painstakingly salvaged, some from his father's building projects. "One aspect of my work is the subversive reuse of objects and materi- als," Zanine says. "Brazil's large indigent population has learned to improvise and recycle in fantastic ways, and I try to portray their efforts with integrity." Since 2005, Zanine has been working on a new assortment of industrial furniture made from sustainably sourced wood. He has also created pieces from such diverse materials as plastic, methacrylate, and metal. "I experi- ment with new technologies, such as injection materials, all the while looking for rich textures and colors that excite me," he says. "I'm drawn to the counterpoint of craft and industrial, which balance and complement each other." When he founded Studio Zanini in 2011, Zanine merged a design studio with a research laboratory and a showroom, allowing him to develop projects holistically, overseeing their development from conception to pro- duction and distribution. Zanine has previously been honored with distin- guished prizes from countries around the world, including the IF Design Award and Brazil's IDEA/Brasil. His work has been showcased in books, magazines, newspapers, and trade journals, as well as in exhibitions of Brazilian design both in his native country and abroad. Zanine's many collaborators include major design names like Poltrona Frau, Cappellini, Slamp, and Tolix. His pieces A sketch by Zanine for his Gioco rocking horse (2009), a sculptural interpretation of the classic child's toy. These "chair ponies" ( below) were produced in methacrylate. 60 m a i s o n - o b j e t. c o m