MAISON&OBJET Americas
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/503691
t h e a m er i ca s have been shown in cultural institutions, such as New York's Museum of Arts and Design, and he participated in the most recent Salone del Mobile in Milano. Maison&Objet sat down with Zanine to discuss his design aesthetic, fast-track career, and latest accolade. Give us your thoughts on having been chosen as the frst Maison&Objet Americas Designer of the Year. It is a great delight for me to show and share a little more of Brazilian culture to the world. An important event like Maison&Objet is a great honor for a designer. How does your native country, and particu- larly Rio, infuence your design? I have the chance to travel a lot in my country, which is so large. Brazil is full of unique features because of the great mixture of races and also because of the great diversity in nature—particu- larly in Rio, where I was born and where I live. It is a very easygoing town, and nature offers up a vast amount of inspiration. What impact has the reuse of materials had on your work? My father, José Zanine Caldas, was a great archi- tect and Brazilian designer who always based his work on the reuse of materials, so I grew up with this concept and applied it to my own proj- ects. All across the country, we fnd the culture of reuse, not only because of the environment but also because of the poverty. It is a recurrent theme in Brazilian life. What do you think about Miami, and in par- ticular Maison&Objet's strategy to integrate the design worlds of the Americas? I think M&O Americas is a great place to show that Miami can be the capital of design, and the city itself offers a perfect mix for the arts and design, so it is an excellent partner for a show like Maison&Objet. Your work has been exhibited, show- cased, written about—from the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne to the Salone del Mobile in Milano. What are some of your future projects? We have some very interesting projects at the moment. The interior design of hotels, spaces for theaters, larger buildings—the scope of the studio is growing rapidly. Any advice for young designers and/or refections on design education? My father always told me to place high value on my own culture, as well as to learn to inter- pret and then vehicle it through my work—to move beyond your own comfort zone and status quo. —E.C. n Zanine's Inflated Wood chair for Cappellini (2013), part of a limited- edition series, and one of his sketches for its design. m&O m&O 62 m a i s o n - o b j e t. c o m