Repurposing is one of the hottest trends in furniture design at the moment. However, Brazilian designer Leo Capote has turned the notion of repurposing entirely on its head by using hardware items like shovels and nails into funky furniture pieces. One would think that these pieces would be mere decoratives with very little functional value but in fact each and every one of them is as functional and usable as anything IKEA can dish up. Capote used the two decades worth of experience that he garnered at his grandfather’s hardware store and merged it with the knowledge he acquired in college. Having been sponsored by Brazilian design stars the Campana Brothers, he approached the designer duo once he finished his degree and started interning with them.
Capote catapulted into the spotlight when he used a discarded chair structure from the firm’s trash and reinvented it into a fashionable piece using 233 soup spoons. Marco 500, the Campana Brothers’ rep at the time, was fairly impressed by the creation and asked him to create a furniture line of his own. The trick of taking objects and material out of context when designing furniture is one of Campana Brothers’ signature styles and the influence shows itself very clearly in the hardware line of furniture created by Capote.
Right from the awe-inspiring armchair covered in nails to stool made from hammers stacked together, the unusual pieces speak volumes about the life of the designer and serve as mini biographical portraits of the artist. The hardware store was passed down to Capote when his grandfather passed away and the collection serves as something of a tribute to his days working at the store. The line of seating made from hammers, shovels and other hardware pieces is part of Leo Capote’s exhibition called Dysfunctional Function that was presented at the Coletivo Amor de Madre art gallery and Sao Paulo design store.
Via: Tree Hugger
