Fernando Campana and Humberto Campana

FERNANDO CAMPANA (Brazil, 1961) AND HUMBERTO CAMPANA (Brazil, 1953) for Alessi.
Citrus basket, Blow Up Series, 2010.
Hand-finished natural bamboo.
Features a signature and stamp on the base.
Measurements: 37 x 34 x 35 cm.
A contemporary design piece from the renowned Blow Up series, conceived by Fernando and Humberto Campana, one of the leading design duos of late 20th- and early 21st-century Brazil. The series is built around an organic structure of lines and voids that evokes the movement and arrangement of the pieces in the traditional game of Mahjong.
Crafted from bamboo, the piece reflects the Campanas’ interest in incorporating the spontaneity, irregularity, and expressive richness of Brazilian craftsmanship into industrial design, reinterpreting traditional techniques and forms from a contemporary perspective. The basket’s apparent simplicity is marked by its distinctly sculptural character, transforming an everyday object into a piece of great visual impact.
Fernando Campana (1961) and Humberto Campana (1953) founded Estudio Campana in 1983 and developed a design language based on experimentation with materials and the transformation of everyday objects. Their international recognition solidified during the 1990s, particularly with pieces such as the Vermelha, the Favela, and the Corallo, which introduced a new conception of Brazilian design based on spontaneity, irregularity, and the creative reuse of materials. In 1998, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York dedicated the exhibition *Projects 66: Campana/Ingo Maurer* to them. Among their most notable accolades are the Design Miami/ Designer of the Year award (2008), the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit, the French Order of Arts and Letters, and the Colbert Committee Award (2012), as well as being named Designers of the Year by Maison & Objet in Paris. Today, their legacy is represented in the permanent collections of institutions such as the MoMA in New York, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the Vitra Design Museum, among others.