With all eyes fixed firmly on Rio’s Olympic Games, it would seem an opportune moment to highlight a number of the region’s best contemporary designers and design studios. It may be argued that Brazilian design remains relatively unknown outside of the country, especially in Europe. And yet Brazil, and more specifically Rio, has a prodigious design talent. For example, it is in Rio that Senhor Sergio Rodrigues, one of Brazil’s greatest designers, had his roots. Many of Rodrigues’ designs are icons of midcentury modernism.Time to check out 8 of Rio’s design golds:Sergio RodriguesA 20th century figure (and strictly speaking not contemporary), Sergio Rodrigues (1927 – 2014) was an acclaimed Brazilian architect and designer; he was also a man who helped introduce Brazilian design to the world stage. Dubbed the father of Brazilian furniture, Rodrigues designed with the identity of his country evidently in mind. Making use of woods such as jacaranda and peroba, Rodrigues created many curious, playful and much-loved furniture designs.Sergio Rodrigues seated on his 1962 Chifruda armchair.Influenced by a traditional milking stool, the 1954 Mocho stool was the first piece of furniture designed by Sergio Rodrigues.The 1961 Mole armchair by Sergio Rodrigues is considered his most iconic piece.Images © 2016 Espasso, Inc.Atelier Gustavo BittencourtRio-Born Gustavo Bittencourt is an industrial design graduate whose deftness in handling a...