Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
The Campana Brothers were among Brazil’s foremost contemporary furniture designers. Inspired by their country’s vernacular culture, Humberto and Fernando Campana (b. 1953; 1961–2022) combined everyday objects in unexpected ways — often waste materials like rope, cardboard, plastic tubing, and aluminum wire — to make their singular chairs, decor, lighting and other items. Their designs have been manufactured by such companies as Alessi, Swarovski and Cappellini. And they received numerous honors, including being named Designer of the Year both at Design Miami in 2008, and by Maison & Objet in Paris in 2012.
Humberto Campana was born in Rio Claro in 1953 and earned a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of São Paulo. Fernando was born in 1961 in Brotas, and graduated from the São Paulo School of Fine Arts with a bachelor’s degree in architecture.
The Campana brothers started working together in 1983, crafting furniture using their signature method of adaptive reuse. Their pieces frequently refer to Brazilian social and cultural traditions and entities. Among these are the country’s favelas, or shantytowns, that have grown up around major cities. An homage to the resourcefulness with which the residents of São Paulo’s favelas make use of the materials at hand, repurposing cast-off objects in ingenious designs and constructions, their Favela armchair is made of cast-off strips of wood (the first one was made from discarded slats from a fruit market), which are glued and nailed together seemingly at random. The end result, however, is a compact, solid and well-proportioned chair.
By 1997, some of the Campanas’ pieces were being produced and sold in Italy, including the Edra Vermelha armchair, constructed of cord handwoven around a steel frame. In 1998, the brothers became the first Brazilian designers to have their work exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today their furniture is included in MoMA’s permanent collection and in those of numerous other major institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Vitra Design Museum.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Campana Brothers armchairs, case pieces and other furniture.
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Cork
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Cork
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Rosewood
Late 20th Century North American Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Rattan
Late 20th Century American Organic Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
18th Century German Baroque Antique Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
1910s Austrian Jugendstil Vintage Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Formica, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Resin
1960s Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Campana Brothers Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Metal