Hugo França on jungle living and pequi wood

The daily grind was never going to be enough for Hugo França. In the early 80s, he left his job at a computer company in São Paulo to live in the jungle of north eastern Brazil, where he stayed for fifteen years, living, working, and in the latter years, discovering the rare gift for furniture design that has made him such a success today. Working with fallen trees and old canoes purchased from the pataxó Indian tribes along the Amazon, the Brazilian master craftsman aims to raise awareness of environmental issues by transforming the pequi wood, left behind by deforestation, into beautifully sculptured, hugely scaled pieces of furniture.

But how did he discover his talent? Why did he move to the jungle in the first place? And what will happen when the felled pequi wood runs out? The Good Web Guide met the designer at Silvia Nayla, where he is currently exhibiting, to find out more.

Your career started at a computer company in São Paulo. What was your job there and what prompted you to resign and move to Trancoso in north east Brazil?

I graduated as production engineer in '79 from Porto Alegre and moved to São Paulo to start working for a company that produced computer parts. I was unhappy with this career and wanted to leave the job, but also had this idea of living a completely different lifestyle that was close to nature.

How did you come to start learning about wood? Did you move there for that purpose, or was it something that happened by chance?

I had no intention of following this career specifically, but there was a motivation to find a job that I appreciated. I already had a notion of architecture and when I moved I started off by building houses. I was very impressed by the local people in terms of the wood labour, and by the amount of material that was being wasted, which I wanted to re-use. The design element was more intuitive.

You stayed there for 15 years didn't you? Did you ever think that you would stay there that long? Why did you stay so long?

I moved in 1982. When I moved, the intention was to live there - it wasn't just a summer vacation. I was there for 15 years, but it wasn't until the later years there that I started developing my work. Before that, I worked in fishing and I had restaurants. I didn't move and immediately find that I had this talent. It took a long time and, when it did, it happened instinctively. I didn't realise that it could become a career.

What impact did deforestation have on you at that time?

The concept of my work is deeply linked with the deforestation process. My main goal is to use what's left behind [by deforestation] and call attention to the problem.

Now that you live in the city, how often do you go back now and how do you go about finding the fallen wood?

I go back for one week every month. There is one full-time person who stays there. He's local so he knows everybody and the place very well. He keeps mapping the area, marking possible fallen trees for me to go to when I get there.

Are the trees as easy to find as they were 20 years ago?

Not, it's getting more and more difficult. There are about five years left before this resource runs out and I'm aware that I have to find an alternative to work with. No other wood has the same characteristics, so I haven't found an equivalent. There is one, Bara Una, very dark, which I've used, but it's not the same.

What is it about the pequi wood that makes it a better material to work with than other types of wood?

One aspect is the age. It is often 1000 years old or more. The other aspect is its endurance. It is very unusual to use pequi wood to make furniture. Traditionally, it has been used [by pataxó Indians] to make canoes. Normally, wood has parallel fibres, which make it much easier to divide, but pequi wood has criss-crossed fibres, which make it much more resistant and difficult to handle. For this same reason, it has not been used by the industrial furniture making industry.

Has the attitude of the locals changed towards you since you became successful?

It has really changed. When I used to live there, I had a leading position socially speaking. Now people look up to me as an artist and I've become a reference for local craftsmen. The people I work with directly have been working with me for a long time, so that relationship hasn't changed.

When you find a fallen tree, how do you visualise what it's going to become?

That's the most fascinating part of the work. It gets very close to archaeology, because you find out what's going on underground. The roots are huge. Everything starts out with the natural forms. It works a little bit like an x-ray process. Because the trees are so large and hard to move, it's a process that involves people and trucks. I am always surrounded by a group of people. It's funny, because they can't see what I can in the shape of the wood.

What is your favourite part of the process and why?

I enjoy the adventure of going after the wood. It's full of suprises. Sometimes you get stuck in mud; sometimes it's an animal or a snake; or you put down a trunk and it's full of bats that come after you.

When did you get your first taste of success?

It was around 1996/97 when I won an award from a Brazilian exhibition, Brasil Faz Design. It was a huge surprise and very rewarding. The awarded pieces were exhibited in Milan and attracted the attention of European curators. When I came to Europe, I was very pleased to find that people truly understood the ecological concept of the work. At that time in Brazil this was not appreciated in the same way as it is today.

Has your work been influenced by the work of other designers, for example Joaquim Tenreiro or Jose Zazine, and in what way?

When I first started and I was living in Trancoso, I was totally isolated. I didn't have access to information on what was being done elsewhere. When, aware that there was a career to pursue, I came back to São Paulo, I was married to an art gallerist. This helped me get to the market and the people and become better informed about the design world. But that didn't become an influence in terms of changing what I was already doing.

What sort of furniture do you have in your own home? Do you have a lot of your own stuff? What about the work of other important designers?

I collect contemporary art. I have some of my own pieces, but I prefer to have other people's work. Frans Krajcberg is a polish artist who moved to Brazil. He works with wood and tries to make people more aware of environmental issues. Also Antonio Dias. It's mainly Brazilian contemporary art.

Do you think that your work has a strong Brazilian identity? In what way?

Aesthetically, I think it really looks Brazilian in terms of the impact of the wood and the organic shape of each piece. I want to bring the tree aspect within furniture back into people's homes. I think that over-manufactured wood furniture is so distant from the form of the original raw material.

What is your favourite website?

I'm not really into websites. I collect books.

Hugo França will be exhibiting his work at Silvia Nayla until 20 October 09. His work is also part of the permanent collection. Silvia Nayla opens from Monday to Saturday, 10am to 7pm, and Sundays 12noon to 5pm.

Silvia Nayla, 109 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 4UW
Tel: +44 (0)20 7229 2262, Email: info@silvianayla.com, Web: www.silvianayla.com

Hugo França spoke to The Good Web Guide via his translator, Mônica Novaes Esmanhotto.

Emily Jenkinson

13 October 09