Sergio Rodrigues is this enlightened figure with a remarkable personality that had the ability to transform his concerns into a coherent and revealing work of the Brazilian culture. Sergio is, without a doubt, one of the most admirable design expressions in our country. His coherent and unique trace inscribed his name in the history of design in the 20th century, mainly for the creation of a variety of products - the most famous being the “Mole” armchair (Sheriff armchair).
Alongside masters such as Joaquim Tenreiro and Jose Zanine Caldas, Sergio has made Brazilian design internationally known. While Tenreiro, with his sober furniture, was the pioneer in the quest of a new style, Zanine extracted from the wood all of its expressive potential and Sergio Rodrigues developed vast experience of production, looking to “think” Brazil through design. He totally transformed furniture jargon, was generous in the trace and the use of native wood and, as Lucio Costa well affirmed, with the creation of OCA (his first interior design store) integrated the interior ambiance in the renovation movement of Brazilian architecture.
In the mid 50s, Brazilian production in this sector (furniture) was still bound to styles and its renovation demanded a battle. Sergio knew that the only weapon he had was the design and that was where he embarked.
Initially, as an architect, he worked together with David Azambuja, Flavio Regis do Nascimento and Olavo Redig de Campos on the Curitiba Civic Center project, which was very significant for Brazilian modern arquitecture. However, knowing well his interests and wandering the path that had already been wandered by other great architects, such as João Batista Vilanova Artigas, Oscar Niemayer, Oswaldo Bratke and Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Sergio leaped from architecture to furniture design.
Aside from this, he was absolutely sure that arquitecture in which the internal space was not planned accordingly was not arquitecture, it was sculpture.
