Craft as Language – Design Miami 2025: Bossa Furniture

A prolific and visionary artist, Joaquim Tenreiro masterfully laid the foundations for modern living in Brazil through his furniture, interiors, and cultural vision. Born in Portugal into a lineage of woodworkers, he trained as a craftsman from an early age and settled in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920s. By the early 1940s, Tenreiro had opened his own studio and workshop, producing work that marked a clear rupture with the colonial aesthetics that had dominated Brazil until the 1930s — inaugurating a new era that reflected the country’s modern spirit and identity.

 

Over the following decades, Tenreiro explored the expressive potential of Brazilian woods, cane, and upholstery, creating lighter and more ergonomic compositions that responded to the tropical climate and to the rhythms of modern life. His work redefined domestic environments as holistic spaces — merging furniture, architecture, and art — and offering a clear, refined, and distinctly Brazilian answer to what modern living could be.

Lucas Recchia (b. 1992, Southern Brazil) is one of the leading voices in contemporary Brazilian design. Trained as an architect, Recchia launched his career in 2018 and quickly gained recognition as the first Brazilian designer to develop innovative glass techniques specifically for furniture. His work bridges traditional craftsmanship and contemporary experimentation, exploring the expressive potential of glass, bronze, aluminum, and Brazilian stones.
Recchia’s pieces are characterized by organic geometries, patinated surfaces, and tactile intimacy, merging artisanal precision with experimental form. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he prioritizes permanence over trend, creating works designed to age gracefully and endure across generations. His practice has been incorporated into boutiques for Off-White, Louis Vuitton, and Dior, and acquired by leading architects and designers including Kelly Wearstler, Sig Bergamin, Steven Harris, and Marcio Kogan. In 2022, he was recognized in Forbes’s "30 Under 30" list in Architecture & Design.
In dialogue with Brazil’s design heritage, Recchia expands upon the values established by mid-century masters such as Joaquim Tenreiro. While Tenreiro’s work is celebrated for its elegance, precision, and mastery of wood, Recchia reinterprets these foundational principles through contemporary materials and processes, blurring the boundaries between functionality and sculpture. His work underscores a continuum in Brazilian design — one that honors its traditions while boldly exploring new forms, materials, and techniques, ensuring its relevance for future generations.