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Genipabu Buffet by Estúdio Galho / Movew |
Home > Winners > Design #170378 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
EM: The Genipabu Sideboard/Buffet is inspired by the stunning Genipabu Dunes, where the wind sculpts the sands into enchanting landscapes. A landmark in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, the dunes offer visitors a unique experience. Their rhythmic triangular structures also serve as a small wine cellar, while the handle of the doors, with its sinuous contour, simulates the gesture of the wind shaping the sand, reinforcing the narrative of fluidity, movement and transformation. The design captures the fluidity of the wind-shaped sands, forming sinuous curves that create impressive visual textures.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
EM: Our main focus was to create a piece that combined functionality, identity and a poetic translation of the reference. We wanted the Genipabu Sideboard/Buffet to be more than a functional piece of furniture, seeking to transform an iconic landscape into product language, creating an emotional connection with those who see and use it. To provide a sensory and symbolic experience in which the user could perceive the beauty of the Genipabu dunes translated into form, texture and function, promoting design as a means of cultural appreciation and belonging.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
EM: We are expanding the product family, extending its aesthetic and functional advantages to other types of furniture. The idea is to explore its narrative potential in new typologies, while maintaining the identity and link with the original inspiration.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
EM: The design and development process took around four months, between research, immersion, creation, technical validation and refinements.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
EM: We were challenged to develop a project that translated the cultural and natural characteristics of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. With this in mind, we immersed ourselves in the territory, studying its landscapes, symbols and manifestations in order to extract emblematic elements and transform them into product language.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
EM: The design is being produced by our partner Movew, who took part in all the stages and embraced the proposal from the start.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
EM: It was an opportunity offered by the PCDIMOB project - Project for the Development, Competitiveness and Integration of the Furniture Industry, promoted by Abimovel, Apex Brasil and Sebrae, which took us on a cultural immersion in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The richness of the place motivated us to transform its natural and cultural references into a meaningful piece with function, narrative and identity.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
EM: There was no direct influence from other designers, but we had the active collaboration of the Movew team, who were present at every stage, bringing valuable technical contributions to the feasibility and quality of the final product.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
EM: The piece is being produced by Movew - Móveis Planejados, with an audience in mind that values authorial design, Brazilian aesthetics and functionality with identity.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
EM: The difference lies in the way we translated the natural context of the dunes into a functional element of the furniture. The upper wine cellar, inspired by the ripples caused by the wind in the sand, is both a poetic and strategic detail that sets the piece apart both visually and symbolically.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
EM: The name pays homage to the Genipabu Dunes, one of the main postcards of Rio Grande do Norte. The ecological park in the municipality of Extremoz, about 20 km from the capital Natal, covers an area of 1,172 hectares and includes a beach, a dune complex, a lagoon and an environmental protection area. The piece bears this name as a way of paying homage to one of the state's most symbolic places.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
EM: We used a combination of analog and digital tools: pencil and paper at the conceptual outset, 3D software such as Rhinoceros, rendering in KeyShot and graphic tools for building semantic panels and analyzing references.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
EM: The wine cellar, located at the top of the piece of furniture, visually highlights the ripples of sand shaped by the wind. It's a detail that connects the object to its territory of origin, reinforcing the narrative and functionality of the piece.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
EM: Yes, we worked in partnership with Movew, which provided technical expertise, engineering and on-site support. This collaboration was essential for the concept to become viable and faithful to our initial proposal.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
EM: Technology was key to transforming the complexity of the dune-inspired shapes into viable surfaces for scale production. Parametric modeling and digital testing helped ensure precision, fit and process optimization.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
EM: Yes. We conducted exploratory and immersive research in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, analyzing geographical, cultural and sensory aspects. Based on this, we built visual panels, mapped local symbols and observed behaviors to create an object that dialogued with this context.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
EM: The main challenge was to transform natural references into function, semantics and experience, translating the beauty of the dunes and the wind into a useful form, without losing the emotional appeal. Another point was to adapt this symbolic language to the technical feasibility of serial production.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
EM: Together with Movew, we internally assessed the potential of the furniture and realized that it combined a strong identity, a well-founded concept, industrial viability and aesthetic differentiation. It was a way of taking part of the Northeast to the world.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
EM: We learned that the soul of the product is in the way it is built from the idea up; when it is born with truth, coherence and purpose, the result connects with people. This project also reinforced our belief that emotion and territory are powerful guides in the creative process.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
EM: We would just like to thank you for the opportunity to share this project, which for us represents more than an object, it is a gesture of recognition and appreciation of Brazilian culture. It's very important to see spaces like this that encourage authorial design and creative diversity around the world.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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