Driven by more than twenty years of working in the real estate sector, Patrícia Coelho created Rondinart, a furniture brand aimed at the premium segment with an exclusive design where each piece reveals lightness and uniqueness. Despite standing out in the luxury segment, it is the details and manufactured pieces that reveal the authenticity of her work, which will soon also be exhibited at international specialty fairs.
How do you define the concept and purpose of your brand?
Rondinart is a premium furniture brand. It was created by me at the end of December 2022. The main goal is to create customized pieces and also according to the customer’s needs. The concept, or background design, is to design decorative pieces with contemporary design and give them a unique touch through textures, woods, natural stones, fabrics, and wool. I believe that each piece will add life, character, and personality to homes or commercial spaces.
How does the desire to create pieces of furniture happen?
I’ve been working in the construction and real estate sector for over twenty years, and the creation of these pieces is not an old dream. It is very recent and arises from the need that I felt, over the years, whenever I needed to create pieces for specific houses, either because of their size or the function I wanted them to have. In every house I worked on, I left a piece of my own. I don’t have any training, but I’m passionate about design, I follow designers from all over the world. That’s how I idealized the pieces. I make the drawings, and one of my sons, who has a degree in Architecture, transfers everything to suitable programs, resulting in technical drawings. Then I accompany the piece, almost from the cutting of the wood or stone until it is ready and as I envisioned it.
For some of the pieces, it established partnerships. How did this initiative come about?
For this project, I invited João Bruno Videira, a highly regarded artist who works wool from Arraiolos, thread by thread, in an original way. Thus, was born the backrest of the Rondina chair, the main piece of this collection. With burel, a handcrafted fabric made from sheep wool from Serra da Estrela, it was the same situation. I wanted to show that we can give a different use to these ancestral materials that in the past were only used for tapestries and shepherds’ cloaks. It is very interesting to create pieces with a contemporary design that are dressed in arts and products with a rich history.
Which segment best suits your brand and why?
The pieces are aimed at the premium segment due to the cost of labor, all handmade. The chairs are made by carpenters specializing in chairs. For that, I did a lot of research, in the north of the country, to find the best in this art. After consulting several, from those that produce in large quantities to the smallest ones, I found that my product aligned best with those who work on a smaller scale; they are more patient with details.
What are the collections and pieces that will be sold?
I’m going to have two Rondina chairs, two side tables that are made with burel legs, and a round dining table, also with burel legs and a stone top, hence the name Serra Table. And another collection, inspired by the technique that the famous Brazilian designers Irmãos Campana used in the Favela armchair; In this one I have a large mirror and a table with a foot that looks like a stack of chopsticks, with an off-center stone top, and a bar unit. Everything is created and produced with interlocking wood pieces. The pieces are named after the Campana Brothers, as they were my source of inspiration. I also have the Brick Table, which is a little bit like my story in construction, quite flexible, allowing you to create various shapes, using a large round foot or two small ones. By the end of this year, the table chairs, plus a lounge chair and a bar stool, will be designed, all from this collection.
How can the pieces be purchased?
It will always be through me or Rondinart’s social networks. A website is being designed where everything will be explained and there will also be a brand presentation video, where it will be easier to understand the creative processes. I’m planning to exhibit at the biggest international fairs in the field like Milan and Paris, and I really want to get to Dubai. My objective is to break the paradigm that luxury has to have gold and velvet, nothing like that; luxury is in quality and difference. Luxury is the authenticity of materials, techniques, and design.
How did the idea of the exhibition in the Teatro Tivoli building, something unusual in this sector, come about?
The exhibition for the presentation of the pieces was, like Rondinart’s proposal, to mix arts with contemporaneity. Later, I intend to create events where the pieces live with the art of sculpture, painting, photography, music, and gastronomy, I want to work together with other crafts. The presentation was at Teatro Tivoli because it is an emblematic building which I really like, it was also a mixture of arts because it featured a musician, João Ventura, and two dancers revealing the pieces one by one.
How are you feeling right now?
I can’t describe it. Getting here was a very lonely process, I didn’t consult anyone, and I didn’t want to pollute anything I had idealized. I put the first pieces on paper exactly as I visualized them in my mind, I left them there, as if in a double boiler, until the technical drawing phase. Afterward, I followed the production very anxiously, because one thing is the design, and another is the physical piece. But I’m very happy with the result and I’m very confident with my Rondinart.
