A childhood in the countryside and the legacy of Lina Bo Bardi, the fundamentals of artisanal woodworking and inspiration from concrete art blend together in Paulo Alves’ work. The result is a genuine expression of Brazilian design.

Viewed in perspective, the furniture designed by Paulo over 20 years of work reveals a creative logic in which wood – and its natural and symbolic characteristics – is the protagonist. Always with surprising results, his mastery in authorial work with wood evokes the legacy of the masters of modern Brazilian furniture.

Paulo graduated as an architect from USP-São Carlos. Before his work as a designer, he worked at Lina Bo Bardi’s office and also at the Bardi Institute, joining the first research team to inventory the architect’s archives for the production of the book and exhibition about the Italian master shortly after her death in the 1990s. These experiences consolidated the central influence that Lina’s work and thinking have on Paulo, who saw in her reflections on popular culture and knowledge a direct connection to his own childhood in the countryside, and a possibility to reclaim it in his own work. In addition to furniture design and special woodworking projects, this also translates into the architecture projects he develops in parallel.

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