Dwell 2015 09

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profile The MP-89 armchair (1970) was made with a diagonally cut Plexiglas cylinder, fishing net, and leather cushions (above). A late 1970s ad for the MP-163 armchair and footrest (1976): Dubbed the “Earth Chair” by retailer Brazil Contempo, it was Lafer’s first design to feature an inner structural steel frame (below). Mention modern Brazilian furniture and names like Sergio Rodrigues, Joaquim Tenreiro, and Jorge Zalszupin come to mind. Yet the most prolific Brazilian furniture designer from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s is arguably Percival Lafer, comparatively unknown in the USA despite the examples of his work for sale today on 1stdibs and eBay. Lafer credits the availability of his work here to the 35 Brazil Contempo stores that existed stateside from 1970 to 1985. When he began making furniture in 1961, his vision was to “bring good design to everyone, not just the intellectual elite” with modern, wellmade pieces that were mass-produced and affordable. That he did, with “an incomparable product for the price,” says Joanne Podell, cofounder of the now-defunct retailer. “Percival’s furniture not only captured the modern aesthetic of the moment, but was exquisitely crafted using gorgeous, solid hardwoods that were novel to U.S. consumers.” With burnished leather upholstery and meticulous finishing details, Lafer’s pieces were also big sellers in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Ironically, Lafer never intended to be a furniture-maker. In 1960, as a senior at the prestigious Mackenzie Presbyterian University College of Architecture in São Paulo, he’d already admired Tenreiro, Zalszupin, and the then-emerging Rodrigues, all renowned for embracing Brazil’s nascent design ethos of the midcentury. But like 2006 Pritzker Prize winner Paulo Mendes da Rocha, who graduated from Mackenzie in 1954 and began making waves with his innovative concrete buildings by the early 1960s, Lafer planned to practice architecture— until his father, a furniture dealer, died right before his graduation. While mourning, “my brothers and I decided to all work together to insure the continuity of the company,” says Lafer. “But I didn’t want to do retail, and our lines were traditional.” He found solace 66 SEPTEMBER <strong>2015</strong> DWELL
MINNEAPOLIS | NYC | LA | SAN FRANCISCO | AUSTIN | SYDNEY | MONTERREY | BLUDOT.COM
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Editor’s Choice: Emerging Talents
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Simplicity is the new luxury.
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HENRYBUILT
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Where morning always comes way too
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Contents Departments September 2015
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Dwell San Francisco 111 Sutter Stre
Page 22: © U. Roberto Romano Beautiful Rug.
Page 26 and 27: Feedback PHOTOS BY MICHAEL MORAN/OT
Page 28 and 29: SOCIAL MEDIA In the June 2015 issue
Page 30 and 31: Contributors Kelsey Keith We are th
Page 32: design(ed) for you Dwell on Design
Page 35 and 36: Italy, Puglia. Natuzzi blends funct
Page 37: A&D Building New York Pacific Desig
Page 41 and 42: Modern World A detail shot of Turki
Page 43 and 44: THE HEAD SAYS YES. THE HEART SAYS D
Page 45 and 46: CONCRETE. DOMESTICATED. 2015 new co
Page 47 and 48: AT LAST, A REFRIGERATOR FOR THOSE W
Page 49 and 50: Signed, limited edition art from ou
Page 52 and 53: modern world best in show Danny Gia
Page 54 and 55: modern world best in show Young’s
Page 56 and 57: modern world best in show Young lau
Page 58 and 59: Matali Crasset modern world best in
Page 60 and 61: modern world best in show 54 SEPTEM
Page 62: Energy 360: The Solar State Tech br
Page 65 and 66: living wall planter 2 simple to han
Page 68: energy 360 start losing money, a lo
Page 71: September Japan Style, 2015 The Tok
Page 75 and 76: PASSION • INSPIRATION • INNOVAT
Page 77 and 78: Haiku by Big Ass Fans The ceiling f
Page 79 and 80: “I choose to build with redwood b
Page 82: pricewise rescued from an apartment
Page 85 and 86: Engineered to the Finest Detail. Pe
Page 87 and 88: Lindal Architects Collaborative Par
Page 89 and 90: Synchronize Your Doors double door
Page 92 and 93: concepts Tom Gaffney won’t tell m
Page 94 and 95: concepts neighborhood burglar. His
Page 96 and 97: concepts An Architectural Introduct
Page 98 and 99: Turkel Design and Dwell Prefab brin
Page 100: dwellhomes.com Curated modern homes
Page 104 and 105: Join the Dwell Store Trade Program
Page 106: dwellings FR ENCH text by Dan Rubin
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Page 117 and 118: dwellings The house is filled with
Page 119 and 120: dwellings “We wanted to make the
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AC T IV E 117
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“ The kitchen is pretty astonishi
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dwellings In the eat-in portion of
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Pop Light A faithful redesign of a
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Method Homes Down to Earth Prefab M
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Sourcing The products, furniture, a
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finishing touch Playing With Fire I
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