Humberto Campana

Title

Honorary Doctor

Person Type

Honorary

Biography

Honorary Doctor

Humberto Campana founded Campana studio with his brother Fernando in São Paulo, Brazil in 1984. Their iconic designs embrace Brazil’s melting pot of cultures, colour, landscapes and environments. They feature in permanent collections across the world, from the Centre Pompidou, Musée Des Arts Décoratifs, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo and Vitra Design Museum.

Humberto’s favourite creations include the Vermelha chair, made with 450 meters of rope, which resulted from experimentations of new ways of upholstering. Also the Favela chair, inspired by the random construction of shacks made with slats of wood. And the instantly recognisable plush chairs: soft toy clad furniture that speak of affection, surrealism and fantasy. Awards have come from far and wide including Design Miami/, the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit, and the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Humberto studied law, rather than design, explaining that in Brazil in the 70s they were under dictatorship rule and the life of an artist was particularly challenging. After five years, he handed his law diploma to his family and told them that going forward, he would build his life with his own hands. He started building objects with seashells, bamboo, clay, weaving, welding, going to exhibitions and doing what he calls ‘educating his eyes’. His brother, Fernando who at the time had earned a degree in architecture, gave his sculptures functionality. They started the Campana studio with their first collection ironically called “Desconfortáveis” (Uncomfortable) and their partnership developed organically.

Today, the brothers work on far more than furniture. The studio investigates new possibilities in architecture, landscaping, fashion, costume, and scenography. Beloved for their free-thinking take on design, they are called upon by brands to re-imagine, transform, re-invent while bringing poetry to their pieces. For Lacoste, they re-imagined the polo, creating lace from 3000 painstakingly handsewn alligator logos. For Louis Vuitton, they created portable hanging travel cabinets made from leather offcuts that resemble a traditional Brazilian folk dance figure.

Humberto and Fernando’s legacy is their Institute, that aims to preserve traditions and craft by supporting sustainable design with a focus on the materials through workshops and masterclasses. In New York, Humberto joined forces with Central Saint Martin’s Product, Ceramic and Industrial Design on an open factory of making, using clay and your own imagination. In 2023 they plan to inaugurate a botanical park in São Paulo where native trees are being re-planted alongside twelve eco-friendly pavilions that bring their work to a whole new scale, offering a space for contemplation and learning about environment preservation. It points to how they see the future of design: an interdisciplinary practice that embraces nature and the power of reinvention.