Brazil’s Zanini de Zanine Debuts Furniture in NY
For the first time ever, the works of Brazilian designer Zanini de Zanine and his late father, the renowned designer José Zanine Caldas, will be on display in the United States. The major exhibition, which will be held at Espasso’s showroom in New York, will feature a mix of furnishings by the two designers.
Carlos Junqueira, the founder of Espasso, worked closely with Zanine to curate a collection of pieces that would reflect the two designers’ talents. Junqueira was friends with Zanine’s father and is excited that Espasso will be hosting this momentous exhibition. “It’s great to see a father and son represented in one collection,” Junqueira says. “I think [Zanine’s] father was a big inspiration for him to become a designer.”
In addition to showing pieces created by the two designers, the exhibition will include the release of two new pieces by Zanine: the Espasso Armchair, which he designed exclusively for the Brazilian design gallery, and the stainless-steel Aparas candle holder, an homage to vegetation found in his native country. It will also mark the debut of three pieces never shown outside of Brazil, as well as a mix of furnishings made out of reclaimed wood, a material Zanine often uses in his designs. Much of the wood comes from beams from old houses and farms. To transform the reclaimed timber, he collaborated with carpenters who formerly worked with his father, infusing new life into the materials.
“I want people to observe how these woods were given a second life,” Zanine says. “I took old pieces made the Brazilian traditional way and gave them a contemporary point of view.”
The exhibition will be open to the public September 27 through October 12. On the evening of September 26, there will be a private reception open to members of the industry and will include a panel discussion with Zanine and this year’s Trip Transformadores winners about architecture and social change. Industry members interested in attending the opening reception on September 26 may RSVP here.
