Matteo Fogale: South American Star

The results, which range from concrete coffee tables inspired by a sketch of unknown function to an elm root dresser that nods to a 1944 commission Vilamajó undertook for La Americana Confectionary, will go on display at The Aram Gallery during London Design Festival as part of exhibition Hilos Invisibles. Translating as ‘Invisible Threads’, the exhibition tells the fascinating story of Julio Vilamajó Echaniz while showcasing a new generation of Uruguayan creative talent, giving an exciting snapshot of this emerging design nation.

Ahead of this ground-breaking show, we were keen to chat with Matteo about Uruguay’s design heritage, its flourishing contemporary scene and the challenges of manufacturing the collection in-country. Here he is in his own words…

Vilamajó can be considered the first modernist architect of South America. At just 20, he was among the first graduates of the FADU and became a well-respected professor. In the 1920s he built more than twenty homes in the city of Montevideo and the meticulous attention he paid to detail in these houses was very unusual. His work is characterised by an eclectic style, using references to the past mixed with modern architectural concepts. In 1931 he created and patented a building system which comprised pieces of concrete manufactured in series. At the age of 35 he built his own house and studio, now the Vilamajó House Museum.

He was invited as a member of the Board of Design Consultants for the construction of the United Nations headquarters in New York together with internationally acclaimed architects including Le Corbusier and the only other South American architect Oscar Niemeyer. 

Montevideo is the art deco capital of South America. It has one of the largest collections of art deco and modernist buildings in the world. These architectural treasures date from a period of social and economic boom in the first couple of decades of the 20th Century and include apartment blocks, cinemas, sports stadiums, shops and commercial buildings. During this time Uruguay was the most socially advanced country in Latin America and this is reflected in the architecture of the period. Unfortunately, many of these buildings are now in decay and their maintenance or refurbishment seems to be out of reach for most homeowners. Most citizens seem to be unaware of these treasures. Only in recent years officials have been slowly recognising their value and in 2015 Uruguay held a special festival to celebrate its building heritage, with many buildings opening to the public. 

The drawings were part of a vast archive from the carpenters Senjanovich - Aparicio that made a lot of Vilamajó’s pieces. All drawings were kept in folders with project names, but it was quite hard to identify what exactly they where. Some refer to either fixtures or furniture pieces but also interior architectural details. When selecting the drawings for the project I was after interesting details rather than the object itself. Shapes, patterns, construction lines, anything that caught my attention was kept aside. I specifically wanted the drawing to be a mystery and not influence the typology of the product so I tried to avoid clear representations of any objects. I then selected seven drawing based on the general approach and aesthetic of each studio. 

One of the challenges of working with seven other design studios is that we each have our ways of approaching work and design. From the beginning I asked the studios to be open-minded and prepare to approach this project slightly differently from how they usually would. It had to be approached as a creative exercise rather than as the creation of a commercial product. I understood that design is a relatively new thing in Uruguay and that it’s hard to make a living from it. So I respected the more commercial approach generally taken by the studios of creating well made, functional and affordable pieces of furniture. But this time, perhaps more in line with my approach to design, I wanted them to forget about numbers and create a unique piece with a sculptural character that would have the important function of storytelling. I think the result managed to merge these two different approaches very well. 

We know you were keen to cultivate a distinctive local design language with the project, how did that emerge and how would you characterise it?


At the beginning of this project I didn’t want to focus too much on the local identity of the designs. I believed that already by being inspired by one of the greatest architects of the country we would achieve this no matter what. But later on I realised that it is actually quite hard for Uruguay to claim a distinctive design identity. Uruguay is a country that always had a huge influence from Europe and neighbouring countries like Brazil, and because of this, we lost most of our native traditions to embrace the fast-developing pace of the country. Unlike other South American Countries, we lack a strong, internationally recognised and craft or material. This was clearly a big challenge and at the same time an opportunity for contemporary designers to create their own style. It was important to me to take something different to Europe – something inspired by it but with our unique character. This led us to the research of what Uruguay has to offer in terms of manufacturing techniques and materials, the crafts and the culture, so for some of the pieces, we could apply these traditional and local elements with a different and more contemporary approach. For me, the combination of this is a very distinctive Uruguayan style.  

Uruguay has managed to keep a large hand-craft industry. Unlike other countries where manufacturing has moved on to larger-scale production, Uruguay still offers the chance to work on small-scale batches of entirely handmade products using some of the best natural and honest materials. This was on the one hand a challenge but on the other a great opportunity. We where dictated to by many factors we knew were not possible to achieve or things that were not possible to find in Uruguay but we embraced this and designed pieces that use the skills of many makers in town, working with wood, metal, natural fibres, stone, glass, leather and wool.