Tomie Ohtake House‑Studio presents Zanine Caldas

The work of José Zanine Caldas emerges precisely from this territory of experimentation, where knowledge is not confined to academic training but is built through observation, practice, and intimacy with the material. Self-taught architect, model maker, designer, and teacher, Zanine developed a unique language from his contact with wood, construction processes, and the landscapes that have traversed his history. Born in Belmonte, in southern Bahia, he gravitated early toward the world of construction and found in manual making a way to explore the possibilities of design.

Throughout his career, he lived and collaborated with key figures of Brazilian modern architecture and design, such as Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Lina Bo Bardi, Vilanova Artigas, Joaquim Tenreiro and Sergio Rodrigues. These encounters not only broadened his repertoire but placed his work within a network of debates on technique, materiality and Brazilian identity. This trajectory inaugurates the exhibition Raiz, the first of four sections dedicated to presenting different dimensions of his oeuvre. Rather than arranging a chronological biography, the show proposes a reading of the relationships between experience, knowledge and creation, revealing how Zanine’s practice developed from a constant attention to materials and the contexts in which they were used. His path allows design to be seen as a field of inquiry where the act of designing begins long before the drawing and continues beyond it, in the relationship among the creator, the builder and what the world offers as material for transformation.

Service

Zanine Caldas – Creation of worlds

Curation: Sabrina Fontenele Realization: Tomie Ohtake Institute and José Zanine Caldas Institute Location: Tomie Ohtake House‑atelier, Antônio de Macedo Soares Street, 1800 – Campo Belo – São Paulo – SP Opening hours: Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Period: September 13 to November 7, 2026 (last entry at 4 p.m.) Ticket: R$ 50.00 Half‑price: students, people aged 60 or over and teachers (upon presenting proof at purchase and at the House‑atelier entrance); Nubank customers (upon presenting the card). Free admission: Tomie Friends (upon presenting membership card and photo ID); Nubank Ultravioleta customers (upon presenting the card); people with disabilities (accompanied by one person); children aged 10 or under (upon presenting identity document); and ICOM cardholders.