M: How does the Brazilian culture influence your work?
B: I live here, it's impossible not to be influenced. As you can see in my objects I try to use materials such as terracotta or straw, that do not belong to the design here, but they are used by people in everyday life. For me it's interesting to get inspiration from the popular culture and apply it to an object that could be defined more as "design", finding a Brazilian aesthetic, that in an international panorama can start a reflection on my own culture.
M: I think that Brazilian design in the last years has been recognized more and more, you started your career in Italy and then you moved back to Brazil, how did you experience this change? Do you think you have been part of the "new Brazilian design"?
B: In 2009, after being in Fabrica, the crisis was starting in Europe, so I decided to move back to Brazil. I felt a big wave of optimism here, to the contrary of the rest of the world, the world cup and Olympics were coming and everything was going up. With Lula, I think the situation was getting better, both on a social and economical aspect, you could feel a true general optimism, and this definitely influenced my work. The media from Europe was really interested in what was happening in Brazil, where design, architecture and artists were receiving interest from the rest of the world. So for me, it was a great moment to be back, together with Zanini and others, more or less the under 40 generation, we were being identified as the "new Brazilian design". But I think that now, in the last 2 years, things have changed. The political situation is not the same and Brazil is receiving different treatment.
