An exclusive partnership

Hero Design Group is proud to announce its exclusive partnership with Brazilian architect and designer Juliana Vasconcellos. The collaboration pairs Hero’s interior design expertise with the bold minimalism Vasconcellos is renowned for.

Vasconcellos’s signature Giraffe chairs — which are held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York — can be seen in our conference room, where they bring warmth, colour and a distinct point of view. We now offer our clients a wide selection of Vasconcellos’s latest and best-known furniture pieces, including the Espaldar lounge and sofa, the Giraffe chair, the Espiral and Passagem rugs, and the Ghost console table, among others.

Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Juliana Vasconcellos is an architect, furniture designer and interior designer. Established in 2008, Vasconcellos Studio focuses on bespoke interiors, architecture and design. For Juliana, design is mostly intuitive. She’s inspired by impressions of the contemporary world, human relationships, nature and the visual arts, and her style can be best described as emotional, unadorned and feminine, a combination of simplicity and elegance.

Juliana prioritises the contrast of natural materials like stone, wood and metal and has a strong appreciation for 20th-century design, especially Brazilian, French and Nordic. Emerging from the architecture and interior design world, her passion for furniture design was a direct response to the needs of her interior design projects.

Authentic materials play an important part in the uniqueness of each piece, and the craftsmanship, harmonious volumes and thoughtful details imbue each piece with a particular emotional value specific to every project she designs.

Q&A with Jualiana Vasconcellos

What drew you to collaborating with Hero Design Studio?

The business model and vision of Hero Design Studio seems to be very interesting and innovative. I firmly believe that collaborating with talents from other parts of the world will enable a rich cultural exchange and professional growth for everyone involved.

How would you best describe your design style? What are your main influences when creating a piece of work?

I consider my style somewhat simple, unadorned, feminine and emotional. My biggest influences are my impressions of the contemporary world, human relationships, nature and the visual arts.

What would you say are your values and ethics when it comes to design?

I value craftsmanship that is on the break of extinction in order to pay respect to our local and traditional culture in Brazil. In this industry, I choose companies that have a social commitment and that treat their employees well, in addition to choosing certified materials in order to minimize the impact on the environment.

Can you walk us through the process, beginning to end, of how the Giraffe chair was made? Where did the design concept come from, what influenced you and how did you decide on the wood and other materials you used?

I am a chair lover. I wanted to make a chair that was feminine, sensual, curvy but at the same time slender and elegant, almost as if it was like an addable hug. I imagined the design in my head and I immediately sketched it by hand onto paper. The next step was going to the computer to adjust the proportions and ergonomics. From the beginning I imagined it would be made of solid wood. Wood has the characteristic of being welcoming and allows us to work with curved shapes.

What are some of the overarching hurdles you encountered as a female architect and interior designer within the global design industry?

I consider the world of architecture and the corporate world to be very male dominant. With interior design we see more space for successful women. In this context, and now managing my furniture brand, I see that we as women have to break new ground. We must work harder, be constantly on trial to show our value in addition to having to deal with a greater expectation from society in relation to our dedication to the family.