Brazilian Modern Bench in Hardwood by Geraldo de Barros for Hobjeto, 1970’s

Available now, this Brazilian Modern Bench in Hardwood designed by Geraldo de Barros for Hobjeto in the seventies is nothing less than gorgeous!

This Mid-century modern bench is made of hardwood and consists of a low base structure five wood slabs on the top and chrome pins.

This piece has all the fun aspects of a seventies mid-century piece: clean, straight lines and abundance of wood. A gorgeous piece like this would look awesome in a living room next to a sofa or in front of two lounge chairs. This Brazilian Modern piece will look great in in any mid-century modern, modern, contemporary, or even boho chic environment.

The last couple images are vintage ads with the timeless piece.

About the author: Geraldo de Barros (1923-1998) was one of the key players of the Modernist movement in Brazil in the 1950's. Originally a painter close to the European avant-garde and the pioneer of abstract photography in Brazil in the 1940's (his works are part of the MoMa collection), Geraldo de Barros went to furniture-making in the early 1950's, seeking a more popular artform that would make his work available to a larger audience - which was more or less the idea behind the Bauhaus movement. In 1954, he founded the company Unilabor with a Dominican priest and skilled tradesmen. Unilabor was run by its employees and all benefits shared between them, thus becoming the first communitarian business in Modern Brazil history. Unilabor grew quickly to become one of the most important furniture companies in the country, but internal disputes led to the end of the company in 1967.

In 1964, De Barros went on to found in association with Aloísio Bione another furniture design company called Hobjeto. After Unilabor, Hobjeto was a more capitalistic project but without losing his constructive characteristics. Until his retirement in 1989, de Barros designed and projected in-numerous furniture lines in this industrial manner. He even built a personal workshop in the factory to project and create his last painting series in Formica. The furniture and the paintings are finally created using the same techniques.

Size: H33, W100, D57 (cm) H13, W39.4, D22.4 (in)