A NEW MATERIAL FROM THE AMAZON

“Amazônia br Design”, an exhibition and discussion panel held at SESC Pompéia, São Paulo, from July 15 to August 18, with the support of PPD, POEMA, FIEPA E POEMATEC. General co-ordination by Debora Laruccia, Tania de Paula and Christian Ullmann

Maria Helena Estrada
Will ecological paths and natural materials guide the new Brazilian design?
Export to survive is a common statement by politicians and businessmen and we, at ARC DESIGN, always are seeking at least to plant new seeds in the process joining the way of Brazilian design to that of exports. We prospect, follow our curiosity, follow up indications, we check the validity and importance and then publicize every new discovery, every possibility of a new way of doing things.
Thus, we arrived at this latex-impregnated coconut fiber, already known and used by Mercedes-Benz, for example, who mold seats for the A Class car with this material; it is also used as a substitute for the trees-fern vases – xaxim – which are becoming extinct.
The exhibition “Amazônia br” brought the public in São Paulo knowledge of this strange material, very rough, which however can be put to service in extremely delicate objects. It also brought the result of a workshop held during three days, in Belém in the State of Pará, by Fernando and Humberto Campana, together with local students and craftsmen. “Our greatest incentive was for us to get close to manual cultures, with which we identify. Apart from this, to be able to work with materials extracted from nature is extremely stimulating”, was the comment of the Campana brothers, who already are thinking in creating products starting from a coconut and latex composite, a material with a raw, rough appearance, but with a soft touch, which is able to support the weight of the body without being deformed, or reaching a minimum, translucent thickness.