Interview about Luar Armchair, winner of the A' Furniture Design Award 2024
The Luar armchair is the result of a transformation into a piece of furniture of the iconographic stone sidewalk patterns of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, the designers' hometown. The armchair presents a composition of contrasts: Wood, with all its slenderness and transparency, contrasts with upholstered elements that are robust, soft and comfortable. Its shape comes from a technique that the companies Lattoog and Schuster have researched over ten years. Pressed wood micro laminates that allow seamless, curvilinear, and highly resistant structures, with optimal use of the material.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsSince the beginning of our work as furniture designers, we had the objective of developing a language that would translate our city – Rio de Janeiro – into the forms of furniture and objects. And one of these projects is precisely the Luar Armchair and Copacabana, a place very present in our lives and our childhood. The stone pavements’ graphics then gained a third dimension, with extrusions, folds, and so on... until it became an ergonomic piece that could be an armchair. This was not a creative process that began with this specific armchair, but we were certainly very satisfied with the result of this specific experience.
We like contrasts, transparency, curves, comfort, seduction... We looked for a situation where the robust seat element appeared to be almost floating, with no visible fixings.
This is the result of a very close relationship between designer and manufacturer. A work model that we strongly believe in. Without this long relationship, techniques like this would not emerge. We believe there is no factory without a designer, there is no designer without a factory.
In Brazil we have a huge variety of wood species, probably more than any other country in the world. In fact, the name of our country is the name of a native species of wood that Portuguese colonizers used to make red paint. This species - the Pau-Brasil - became practically extinct, as well as several other species, and its extraction is prohibited today. This is very symbolic in many ways. Brazil has a task give its own answers to the world on how to take care of nature and natural resources. We work a lot with wood and the entire decision to choose the species is based on its origins, the method of planting and extracting. We are also aware that each wood type, due to its density and resistance, requires a different design response.
This is very related to our childhood and experiences close to the sea and nature. Copacabana was the birthplace of bossa nova music that always sang about the sea, beauty and nature. We looked for a poetic and light name for our armchair because it translates very well not only our way of designing but the spirit of the culture of an entire nation.
More than influencing, this long-distance relationship makes these types of projects viable. We are constantly exchanging ideas on how to develop new techniques and transform them into products with some magic and seduction. The objective of the parts involved is the same: to enchant and follow new paths with wooden construction.
It is undoubtedly a great happiness to be recognized with this important award. Regardless of the award, we would continue with this way of working that we had already been doing before. The big difference is that now we are able to show our way of thinking and designing to a more international audience.
Rio de Janeiro, in a way, is an isolated city: Facing the sea, surrounded by forests and very far from any other country. This makes us feel a certain need to show the world our culture through our work. At the beginning of our work as designers - twenty-five years ago - the most common practice in the local market was to copy European models. We have worked hard over the years to help to forge not only a contemporary Brazilian identity but also the public's desire to consume products with these characteristics. Looking back, I believe we were successful in this task.
We don't believe in good furniture design without good ergonomics. We have seen in the history of design great iconic chairs that, despite their importance, were not very confortable. So, since day one of our practice, we had the clear goal of having ergonomics as one of the central keys of our design process. To achieve that, we do a lot of prototypes and use extensively our own bodies to test them.
A word that has been very popular in our contemporary society is Diversity. We want this characteristic to be part of our production methods too. We really enjoyed seeing in the production of our pieces the need for professionals with a lot of experience in traditional techniques (generally older people) and simultaneously the need for advanced technology, which is generally dominated by young workers. These projects bring different generations together within the factories.
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