Sergio Rodrigues, Lucio Costa chairs for Oca

SERGIO RODRIGUES (Brazil, 1927-2014) for OCA.
6 "Lucio Costa" dining chairs. Brazil, 1950s.
Jacaranda wood and rattan grid.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use.
Measurements: 79 x 45 x 48 cm.

The chairs under bidding were conceived as a tribute to Rodrigues' urbanist and architect mentor, Lucio Costa, and were designed for the Jockey Club in Rio de Janeiro. True to Rodrigues' style, they are made of jacaranda wood, with joinery work that stands out for its robust sections and smoothly rounded edges, avoiding any aggressive edges. Its most distinctive element is the use of braided cane straw (palhinha) in the backrest and seat. This material not only provides a visual lightness that contrasts with the solidity of the wood, but is a direct reference to Brazilian colonial tradition, adapted to modernity.

Sergio Rodrigues is the architect of the modern identity of Brazilian furniture, recognized worldwide for having replaced the rigidity of European functionalism with an aesthetic of "Brazilianness" based on warmth, comfort and robustness. An architect by training, in 1955 he founded the emblematic Oca gallery, from where he projected a design that celebrated native materials - especially jacaranda wood, leather and straw - and which reached its zenith with the iconic Mole armchair (1957), whose structure of straps and soft cushions defied the canons of the time to prioritize an informal and profoundly human way of sitting. His legacy, which includes key collaborations for Oscar Niemeyer's buildings in Brasilia, is distinguished by a language of organic, turned forms that turned furniture into a tool of cultural expression, positioning Brazil permanently in the history of international design.