Favela Miniature - / Campana (1991) by Vitra Natural wood

Located in Weil am Rhein in Germany (near the Swiss border), the Vitra Design Museum is a privately funded museum that showcases the unique design collection of the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra. The Vitra Design Museum collection is one of the most important furniture design collections in the world. It contains around 7,000 pieces of furniture, more than a thousand lighting pieces, numerous archives and the inherited series of famous designers such as Charles & Ray Eames, Verner Panton and Alexander Girard. The Vitra Design Museum's collection of miniatures, which started more than 20 years ago, is an illustration of the milestones in the history of design. This collection encompasses the entire history of industrial furniture from the 1800s to present day, creating a pathway through time leading to the creation of modern seating, from historicism and Art Nouveau to Bauhaus and New Objectivity, Radical Design and Postmodernism to present day. A magnificent collection of emblematic works is presented to you. These chairs that have taken their place in history all carry the memories of their times: Materials, shapes, colours. They reveal the often forgotten dreams of their time, the (sometimes utopian) aspirations of their designers, but above all to their vision of the world. The chairs are reproduced on a one-sixth scale and faithfully replicate the original historical model down to the smallest details in the design, material and colour shade. This precise detail is also applied to the wood grain, the reproduction of the screws and the meticulous methods of handcrafting. These miniatures are not only valuable collector's items, but are also an educational tool for universities, design schools and architects. Rolf Fehlbaum, President of Vitra: “We can deduce and understand an era, its social order, its materials, its techniques and its taste by observing its chairs. I should point out that no other everyday object offers such diversity. ” The Favela chair is the emblem of a particular approach in the world of design. Its creators, the Campana brothers, make their creations using recycled objects. This creation is made of assembled logs, it is the incursion of popular handicrafts in the world of the decorative art. The Favela chair, made of a large amount of salvaged wooden logs, glued and nailed together, is emblematic of this rebirth. The Campanas have the ability to reveal the beauty and poetry of any object by diverting it from its initial function. Small wood scraps suddenly rise to being a chic and indispensable material. When they started their careers, Fernando and Humberto Campana had to make do with very little. They would use materials they found outdoors for their creations. Their mark of genius is being able to see potential in any object. Their truly artisanal approach first and foremost came from a lack of means, and had the quality of becoming environmentally friendly and inspiring.