Dell Anno in a state of art

Cabinetry brand honors Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira in its new campaign.

New cabinetry design interventions are now affording the condition of art, reshaping and conducting new dialogs as if they were framed in a museum scene.

Driven by this provocation, Dell Anno introduces an approach for the 2022 campaign that strengthens the brand’s deep connections between architecture, art, and fashion. Singular is the new campaign honoring portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and his legacy of architectural elegance and sophistication, which has earned him global recognition and made him a significant architectural influence in our time.

When the Marketing Director, Edson Busin, met Álvaro Siza in Portugal during a documentary shoot, he had the idea to honor him, both for his genius and for the connection of his work with the values that guide the Dell Anno positioning. Two drawings on the wall in Alvaro’s office, subtly hand-drawn by him, elicit the relationship between man and stone. In the drawings, man sometimes dominates the elements, and in other moments, he allows the elements to dominate him, alluding to humanity’s evolutionary process. Stone is one of the elements that has shaped human history and influenced people’s way of life over the centuries. It is one of the most powerful and noticeable elements in Siza’s work.

The campaign’s line of work was guided by this insight, which brought the architect’s speech and personal gaze to architecture’s simple and systematic connections with the whole. The backdrop is the building of the Iberê Camargo Museum in Porto Alegre, an iconic work by Álvaro Siza completed in Brazil. Inside the museum, there is a kitchen formed by two minimalist and contemporary Dell Anno designs. They converse with the surroundings in a delicacy of forms, angles, materials, and lighting, creating a unified language and elevating themselves to state of the art.

The central island emerges from a large block of stone, and the product materializes the brand’s homage to the architect: new stone cabinet fronts. The inspiration for this piece comes directly from Siza’s office drawings: a significant volume of rock, as if carved by man’s hands, evolves linearly and becomes a countertop that reaches the condition of furniture, the representation of a rough stone cut in the shape of a contemporary piece of furniture suitable for our time.

The composition is completed by an all-glass Display Case with metal frames, appearing to float and highlighting one of Siza’s favorite effects: light. The visual narrative of the campaign also connects Dell Anno’s values with the Iberê Camargo building, expanding the vision and bringing every angle and architectural detail to life. There is a strong presence of Álvaro Siza’s characteristics. He has always admired sculptures and employs the same sculptural character in his work, guided by the extensive use of stone and concrete. The architect reveals himself through his straightforward approach to composition, desire to eliminate excesses, and in-depth exploration of materials and elements.

Furthermore, Siza is obsessed with the connection between his work and nature. With minimalist and modernist influences, his works are distinguished by intense interaction with their surroundings, inserted into the setting without any imposition, with the lightness of someone who has adapted to the environment, without the need to dominate it, demonstrating sensitivity to construction techniques and respect for the nature of the place where they are inserted.

As an artist, Álvaro Siza reaches the level of emotions with his work, which is a hallmark of expressionism. More than attempting to describe or frame his work is to feel and experience the spaces created by the genius of his mind.

Évora Mimesis in the white shade and Porto Mimesis in the gray shade, are two new finishes from the Dell Anno palette introduced in the Singular campaign, where stone becomes a solution for cabinets. The products have been linked to the most distinctive trademark of Álvaro Siza’s work, which extensively explores the use of this resource in connection with architecture and nature.

About Álvaro Siza

Álvaro Siza Vieira is one of the world’s great names in modern architecture and urbanism and one of the most critical professionals in the history of architecture in Portugal. He graduated in architecture in 1955 at the former School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, the current FAUP – Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto. Getting closer to his 90th birthday (89 years recently completed on June 25, 2022), he has successfully made hundreds of works in different places around the world; his first architectural project was completed in 1954, and even before ending his studies, he developed four houses in Matosinhos, his hometown.

Throughout his career, he had the opportunity to work with architect Fernando Távora and soon became one of the references of the Porto School of Architecture, where both were teachers. Távora was an enthusiastic architect and teacher; during his lifetime, he has also worked for institutions such as Harvard, the University of the Andes, and the Polytechnic of Lausanne.

In 1992, Siza was awarded the renowned Pritzker Prize for the renovation project that he coordinated in the Chiado area of Lisbon, a historic commercial sector that was all but completely destroyed by fire in August 1988.

About Dell Anno

Dell Anno is an international custom kitchen and closet systems brand known for its sophisticated, modern, and functional design. The company combines technology and experienced craftsmanship, delivering premium materials in exclusive finishes.

The cabinetry manufacturer is one of the largest and most modern in Latin America, located in Southern Brazil. The company’s production facility covers more than 540,000 sq. ft. with a fully robotized, tidy, and efficient plant, offering millimeter variations in the cabinet’s design and adapting projects to different customizations.

Dell Anno draws inspiration from contemporary, minimalist, and sophisticated design, attempting to humanize spaces through wood, lacquer, glass, stone, and fabric compositions. Dell Anno has a strategically unified positioning between fashion, arts, design, and architecture, translated into the concept of “dressing the house.”

Cabinets with solutions in straight lines, handleless doors, and extensive use of lighting resources, complemented by a wide range of accessories. The functional areas stand out for the concealed solutions, the modern opening systems such as Pocket Doors, Coplanar Doors, and Hinged doors are refined options to compose beautiful and practical designs.

Dell Anno transforms precious resources into stunning cabinets while minimizing environmental impact with sustainable practices that run throughout the production line. The wood used in product manufacturing comes from renewable forests, demonstrating a solid commitment to avoiding deforestation of native systems.

The packaging for the cabinets is 95% made of recyclable material, and the water reuse rate reaches 100% thanks to the treatment of effluents and rainwater capture. The byproducts of the manufacturing process – such as sawdust, wood, plastic, and cardboard – are sent to be reused by other industrial sectors. Non-recyclable residues are processed using environmentally friendly high-tech methods. Recently, the company received the Renewable Energy and Sustainable Panorama Certificate, which attests to the use of renewable energy sources and validates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Dell Anno, which will soon celebrate 40 years in the custom-made cabinetry segment, currently has over 80 monobrand stores in more than 10 countries, with a brand portfolio that caters to the wishes of customers in search of sophisticated living all over the world.

SINGULAR DATA SHEET, DELL ANNO 2022
Concept: Edson Busin – Unicasa Marketing Director
Creation: Themática Propaganda e Design and Augusto Custódio Produções
Photography: Roberto Majola (Lightbox Estúdio)
Video: Augusto Custódio Produções
Direction: Augusto Custódio
Interior Design Project: Giselle Guarda and team – Department of Architecture Unicasa Móveis
Project Coordination: Rodrigo Silva and team – Unicasa Móveis Marketing Department
Location: Iberê Camargo Foundation, Porto Alegre – Brazil.
Special acknowledgments: Álvaro Siza and Carlos Castanheira
Kênia Michelin – Training and Market Relations