Sérgio Matos

Who they are

Sérgio J. Matos was born in Paranatinga, in Mato Grosso, and graduated in Industrial Design from the Federal University of Campina Grande, in Paraíba, in 2005 — working, during his degree, as a production supervisor at a packaging company. He says he would have given up on the profession had he not entered, in 2007, the Ianomâmi bench into a Sebrae Minas Gerais competition: it took first place in the furniture category, and from there his career turned a corner.

He opened his own studio and built up a body of work in which Brazilian material culture is a starting point, not a decorative quotation: regional crafts, fairs, weaving techniques and the country’s nature enter the design as method. International recognition came early — the iF Product Design Award, in Germany, and later the furniture award at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York. Much of the work has a direct counterpart in preserving Brazilian craft production, with pieces made together with communities of artisans.

In the archive, the exclusive pieces in the common areas of H.I. Pinheirosi are his design.

Aesthetic

• Language: Brazilianness without folklore — the piece is born from a real craft technique (weaving, fibre, wood) and arrives at contemporary furniture without losing the hand that made it.
• Materials and hallmarks: natural fibres and regional weaving, wood, rope and metal; production in partnership with artisans and released by Brazilian design brands.
• Awards: 1st place in furniture at the Sebrae-MG competition (2007), with the Ianomâmi bench; iF Product Design Award (Germany); furniture award at ICFF New York.

Signed projects

• Exclusive pieces in the common areas of H.I. Pinheirosi, in Pinheiros districti — for Setini, with the common areas and show flat by Todos Arquiteturai.
• Ianomâmi bench — the debut piece, awarded in 2007.