Hilos Invisibles: the designers
Coming to The Aram Gallery in September for LDF, seven of the most exciting Uruguayan design studios have reimagined the legacy of Montevideo architect Julio Vilamajó Echaniz for an exhibition masterminded by designer Matteo Fogale.
As part of a residency at the Museum Casa Vilamajó, Uruguay-born, London-based Matteo dug deep into Vilamajó’s archive unearthing gems from his sketches and blueprints. He then ran week-long workshops with seven Montevideo practices – Carolina Palombo Píriz, Claudio Sibille, CLARO, Menini-Nicola, Muar, Studio Diario and Rafael Antía – to collaboratively develop seven new products inspired by elements of Vilamajó’s work. Some were tangible, like the sketches of a never-finished table for example, whereas others opted for more abstract approaches creating work inspired by the interplay of light in Vilamajó’s buildings for instance.
Not willing to wait for these South American talents to turn up in London in September, we tracked them down to chat about their practices and how their work has been inspired by Vilamajó.
Uruguayan designer and architect Carolina Palombo Píriz takes working at different scales in her stride. Happily switching between everything from furniture to houses, her approach is not unlike that of Julio Vilamajó Echaniz, who also worked across multiple scales and media. For the exhibition Carolina looked to Vilamajó’s hostel and restaurant Ventorrillo de la Buena Vista, which he designed in 1945. Located on the slope of the Villa Serrana mountains, the building was made entirely from local materials like stones, straw and wood with big windows. ‘It feels that nature comes inside the building,’ says Carolina. Inspired by this principle, Carolina made a high-backed chair that uses natural materials that straddle the line between inside and outside. The chair is made from braided totora, a leaf native to the country, and features a seat covered with a bespoke hand woven wool, also knitted by local weavers from Manos del Uruguay, a collective supporting women from rural areas in Uruguay.
Founded in 2013, Diario is Ana Sosa and Guillermo Salhón, who work within the fields of product, furniture and interior design, and have a distinct Scandinavian flavour to their practice. Inspired by a drawing by Vilamajó that the duo suspects is for a column, Diario has created a bench inspired by the sketch’s geometric forms. Its made from natural suede leather and Brazilian Lapacho wood with a detachable side table made from steel rods. ‘What inspired us the most about Vilamajó’s work was the meticulousness in the details and the interaction between noble materials,’ say the duo. ‘Our project considered these two characteristics, and tries to develop a functional piece of furniture without leaving aside the aesthetic.’
A stalwart in the Montevideo design community, Menini-Nicola was founded by Agustín Menini and Carlo Nicola. ‘The project allowed us to approach the work of Vilamajó from a freer angle,’ the pair say. ‘It allowed us to think about a product forgetting the market, serial production and everything we do almost daily.’ For Hilos Invisibles, the studio has developed a mirror loosely inspired by the mirrored surfaces Vilamajó frequently used in his interiors. ‘It was very inspiring and motivating, all of us apart from being competitors, we are friends and it is very difficult to find opportunities to work collectively like this.’
Founded in 2008 by designers Rosina Secondi and Daniel Appel, CLARO are industrial designers with a big interest in sustainability. For the project, the studio has created a family of three lights (a floor lamp, ceiling and table lamp) inspired by the interaction between Vilamajó’s architecture and the movement of the sun. ’We always knew Vilamajó but we had never been so close to his work,’ says Rosina. ‘We found his work to have textures, volumes, contrast of lights and especially the way of combining them in a modernist architecture, giving him a very own and characteristic identity. We were able to appreciate its level of sensitivity with the user, its ability to reinterpret the movements of that time, appropriate them and generate a new language down to the last detail.’
Having long been part of larger design studios in Montevideo, Federico Mujica and Carolina Arias set up their own practice seven years ago. Architect Federico’s background is in high-end interior design, while Carolina’s interests lie in craft techniques and obsessing about details and finishes. For the project, the duo created a dresser made from elm root veneer, brass, ceramics and mirror, inspired by shelf Vilamajó created for Confiteria La Americana. ‘The mirrored glass surface plays with the magic of see-through surfaces in relation to the many hidden double-functions found in the interiors of the house,’ says Carolina. Some additional elements like the ceramic trays were inspired by the fountains at Museum Casa Vilamajó and the ceramic ornaments used in Vilamajó’s projects with artist Antonio Pena.
During the workshops with Matteo industrial designer Rafael Antía’s interest was piqued by one of Vilamajó’s drawings of unknown origin but that appeared to be a detail of a table support. From this technical starting point Rafeal created a family of two tables, made from concrete, tempered glass and bronze. ’I think the biggest challenge was to give it the character that the piece deserves, although it is very simple formally,’ says Rafael. ‘The design of the concrete foot generated a great challenge as it’s a material I’m not used to working with.’ This is one of Rafael’s first projects since saying goodbye to the design studio Sámago that he co-founded in 2013 and worked as a design director until early this year.
Working primarily with big Brazilian and Mexican companies like Tok&Stok, Mobly and Oppa, industrial designer Claudio Sibille specialises in furniture that exudes craftsmanship while still being functional. His piece for Hilos Invisibles is a zig-zag bookshelf based on a plan for a display table from Confiteria La Americana. The products biggest challenge was hiding the metal supports that connect the wood together in order to support heavy books.’The thing I love the most is the undeniable Mediterranean, particularly Andalusian feeling to Vilamajó’s work,’ says Claudio. ‘Even though he ended up adhering to the modernist movement, he never sought to destroy the old in order to create the new. His work is the perfect balance between the two.’
Want to discover more about the designer behind the Hilos Invisibles collaborations? Read our Q&A with Matteo Fogale here.
To find out more about what we do for Uruguayan design, check out the Hilos Invisibles client page here.
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