Jose Zanine Caldas

In April of 1919, in the city of Belmonte, in southern Bahia, José Zanine Caldas was born.

Self-taught, he began early, at the age of thirteen, making nativity scenes with his father's syringe boxes, as his father was a doctor.

At eighteen he moved to São Paulo and at twenty he opened his own model-making company in Rio de Janeiro, with clients including names like Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, among others.

In 1948 he founded Móveis Artísticos Z, producing furniture with a strong modernist influence for 12 years, leaving the company in the mid-1950s.

He joined the faculty of the University of Brasília, even without a degree, as a professor of model making. Years later, he would be recognized by the Brazilian Institute of Architects as an architect honoris causa, receiving this title from Lúcio Costa.

He gained international recognition when his work was exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Zanine knew no limits. He contributed to architecture, design and art, industrial and handcrafted furniture, landscaping and sculptures, among projects for popular and elite housing, as well as research concerning the use and reuse of Brazilian wood.