Ambiente: Focus On Design

From 7 to 11 February 2020, the international consumer goods industry revolved around this leading global trade fair in all matters of tableware, kitchenware, household goods, and leisure as well as home, interior design, and gifts. One of the highlights at trade fair, congress and event organizer Ambiente, in the coming year will be the launch of the special presentation Focus on Design, featuring outstanding products and detailed insights of current design highlights in a selected country.

From 2020, the world’s leading trade fair included a special presentation entitled Focus on Design with a major focus on the extraordinary products of one particular country each year. This coming year Ambiente will start with a fast-developing designer nation with striking modernist design, but which has so far only made an impact on professionals: Brazil. Five different Brazilian design studios, each with its own special identity, showcased their creative output at Galleria 1. In addition, young Brazilian designers were located in the Talents area in Hall 8.0, where they presented their unique handmade items and limited series. Thankfully, Ambiente’s versatile and exciting Focus on Design program will continue in 2021.

“By setting up the special presentation Focus on Design we’ll be honoring important designer nations that may not be quite so well-known yet. This year we’re starting with Brazil, a country whose art, architecture and design scene has been influencing the avant-garde since the 1960s, yet internationally it is still mainly known only to professionals. This is the starting point for Ambiente as the world’s leading trade fair. We want to use our global platform to make Brazilian design better known internationally, in all its facets,” says Nicolette Naumann, Vice President of Ambiente.

The presentation included Rodrigo Almeida, who is considered one of the best-known names of the new generation of Brazilian designers. His works have transcended national borders and conquered the international market. Ranging from artwork through furniture and everyday objects to fashion items and accessories, he covers the full range of segments, inventing stories which he then transforms into imagery, and the images into objects. Using his originality, versatility and unique talent, he has taken a route that gives him a place among the great, and not just in Brazil.

Also, Bianca Barbato was presenting, she is a self-taught designer specializing in creating furniture and lighting. Whether it’s limited editions or whether it’s industrially made product lines that are manufactured and marketed by big companies, her products cover the full range. The protagonists at the beginning of each project are the materials and techniques. As she experiments with materials, she seeks to gain a better understanding of different types of raw materials and technologies, from laser cutting to inlays. Her sources of influence and main inspiration come from her curiosity about the way things were made in days gone by, and her objects are intended to bring back emotive memories, feelings, and instincts. Barbato, who was born in São Paulo in 1978, opened her studio in Rio de Janeiro in 2008. She now lives in São Paulo, and her products are sold at 30 sales outlets throughout Brazil. Barbato has participated in several exhibitions, and she presents new collections at designer fairs each year.

Born and bred in Rio de Janeiro, Brunno Jahara was also present. He studied industrial design in the Brazilian capital Brasilia and then moved to Italy, where he studied at the University of Architecture in Venice and then worked for Fabrica in Italy for two years. Having trained in Europe, he is an energetic advocate of the new Brazilian design scene. His bright and beautiful products and furniture are in an international language that speaks of Brazil and help to create the characteristic design identity of this huge multicultural country – a country full of resources, innovation, and artisan craftsmanship.