A CURATED COLLECTION

Often, it’s a designer’s job to source statement items that will define the look of a space. In the case of this St. Louis condo, however, the project designer was tasked with finding a way to visually unite the homeowners’ existing collection of mid-century modern Brazilian furniture by designers such as Sérgio Rodrigues and Giuseppe Scapinelli. These pieces blend European modernism with natural materials and organic curves.

“It’s been quite a journey, collecting these items, and we are very honored to be their current caretakers,” says one of the homeowners. In the living room, two Pétalas side tables by Jorge Zalszupin — an architect who migrated to Brazil after World War II — juxtapose sharp angles with curves. Other stand out pieces include a sculptural Marquesa bench designed by Oscar Niemeyer and a pair of eye-catching mid-century modern Brazilian armchairs.

The project designer used color and pattern to tie the room together. The soft furnishings were recovered in a goldish suede which picks up some of the tones in the console while the couch was transformed with an emerald green mohair. The bright color picks up the room’s greenery as well as the plant life that the homeowners carefully tend on the terrace just outside.

Underfoot, a black-and-cream rug by Lapchi features a pattern called Indian Flower that resembles a pointillist painting. Above the console hang two works of art in a very different style: oil portraits of one of the homeowner’s ancestors from the 1800s.

“It is only fitting that St. Louis, graced with beautiful mid-century modern architecture — [as] epitomized in Saarinen’s Gateway Arch — is also home to these pieces,” says one of the homeowners. “It is our hope that more North Americans fall in love with the creative designs of our southern counterparts.”