Carlo Hauner

Carlo Hauner 1927 - 1996

Born in Brescia in 1927, Carlo Hauner studied industrial design at the Brera Academy in Milan. In 1948, fleeing the political climate in Italy, he emigrated to Brazil and settled in São Paulo, where he began a career as an interior designer with his brother Ernesto. In 1951, the two brothers bought the furniture workshop Studio Arte e Palma from Pietro and Lina Bo Bardi. The new company, Móveis Artesanal, produced made-to-measure pieces commissioned by architects in São Paulo, as well as the Hauner brothers' creations and some of Lina Bo Bardi's furniture, such as the Bowl chair, which was first produced by Móveis Artesanal. In 1952, Carlo Hauner met the Argentine architect Martin Eisler, who was interested in the production of the furniture he had designed for the apartment of the wealthy businessman Ernesto Wolf. Financed by Eisler, Móveis Artesanal opened its first showroom, Galeria Artesanal, which became Forma Móveis e Objetos de Arte in 1954. For four years, the intense collaboration between the Hauner brothers and Martin Eisler produced a series of iconic pieces of Brazilian design furniture. In 1956, Carlo Hauner sold his shares in the company and returned to Italy, where he founded Forma Italia. Martin Eisler also returned to Argentina in 1956, and Ernesto Hauner sold his shares to Ernesto Wolf, who took over the marketing of the Knoll International catalog in 1958.