Brazil Baroque Goes Beyond Sustainable Furniture

Furniture World Magazine

To Brazil Baroque, a Santa Barbara, CA company that manufactures furniture with only reclaimed and recycled hardwoods, the current eco buzz words “recycle”, “sustainability” and “green” have been at the core of the business’s mission ever since it was started over five years ago by designer and architect Andrea Fonseca. Considered an industry leader before her time among eco-friendly manufacturers, Ms. Fonseca began to bring her vision to life when she moved to the United States and started designing furniture for Santa Barbara residents. Delighted clients spread the word, and since then, the company has grown to include over 1500 meticulously handcrafted items while staying at the forefront of “green” conscientiousness. Passionate about her company’s responsibility to be a part of the solution to global warming rather than part of the problem, Ms. Fonseca turned to her native country of Brazil for her main resource—woods reclaimed throughout the countryside from abandoned farms and haciendas. Built on site, these abandoned structures were crafted from some of the most exotic woods that once proliferated in Brazil. Destruction of massive areas of Brazilian rainforests has put the existence of many exotic woods in jeopardy. Today, skilled artisans and craftsmen use these reclaimed woods to transform former walls, floors and ceilings into original one-of-a-kind works of art, including chairs, hutches, tables, beds, lighting, flooring, architectural elements and more. Ms. Fonseca had the foresight to incorporate the concept of “eco-friendly” into the company’s mission statement when she founded Brazil Baroque: “We are committed to preserving Brazil’s rainforests by using only reclaimed hardwoods for our wood products and will continue to strive to use manufacturing techniques that cause little or no harm to the environment while still producing the highest quality furniture and accessories.” Says Ms. Fonseca, “No new woods are ever used in our products. The furniture has to be beautiful, provocative and meaningful, and by using reclaimed woods, these desirable characteristics are inherent in the woods we use even before a piece is crafted. Years of use and distress have beautifully marked the timbers we use, giving each piece its unique look, charm and beauty.” Brazil Baroque recently opened a new showroom at the prestigious Las Vegas World Market Center. Almost a carbon copy of the flagship store in Santa Barbara, the new showroom features a cross section of the 1500+ meticulously handcrafted items it manufactures. The new showroom, located in Building B, space B251 is now open during regular WMC hours at the Las Vegas World Market Center. For more information, visit www.brazilbaroque.com or call Brazil Baroque at 805.962.8868 or 866.622.3876