Alva Design
ALVA Design is a Brazilian furniture and object design studio founded by siblings Marcelo Alvarenga and Susana Bastos. Drawing from backgrounds in architecture, fine arts, and fashion, the duo develops a poetic design language that balances structure and fluidity, functionality and emotion.
Rooted in the cultural landscape and craft traditions of Minas Gerais, their work is distinguished by sculptural forms, refined materiality, and a strong sense of atmosphere. Since its founding, ALVA has become a prominent voice in contemporary Brazilian design, creating furniture, objects, and creative projects that celebrate craftsmanship, intimacy, and the poetry of everyday life.
Interview
Marcelo: I was born in João Monlevade, Minas Gerais, and grew up in Lavras.
Susana: I was born in Lavras, Minas Gerais, and work and live in Belo Horizonte MG.
Marcelo: Always.
Susana: Yes.
Marcelo: Our mother. She was a painter and pianist.
Susana: Our mom was a painting teacher, and in her classes, you always had to start on a small canvas, and I remember that I wanted to paint in large formats. My drawings always bled out of the paper. Years later, my own mom went to a painting class, this time as a student, and took me with her, and I could finally paint larger pictures.
Marcelo: I studied Architecture and Urban Studies in college, and have worked as an architect since the nineties and the smaller, more intimate scale of design has always interested me.
Susana: I always wanted to work in an inventive way. I even thought about becoming a scientist, and realized I could fulfill this creative compulsion through art in a way that felt less constricted by reality.
Marcelo: Chaotic. We start from a desire or a need, work through sketches and drawings, and then I’m occasionally fed related content through social media algorithms, and I’m always exchanging ideas and concepts with Susana.
Susana: Inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes I am more attuned to visual arts, or fashion, or literature, or cinema; these are all forms of expression that interest me and add to my repertoire. I believe true inspiration is a state of attentiveness, of enchantment, that we often find in our day-to-day lives, the things that surround us, people, materials, nature, and the city. Like the title of a Paul Smith book I own: “You can find inspiration in everything, if you can’t, look again”.
Marcelo: It varies. I split my time between PLAY – my architecture studio -, Alva, and now Galeria Alva, the space we have opened this year to showcase our work. I try to remain attentive to everything, although sometimes I need to focus on specific demands.
Susana: I split my time between our studio/workshop with day-to-day tasks and creation, and now Galeria Alva. Sometimes my work requires me to spend time elsewhere. We designed the costumes for the 50th anniversary of Grupo Corpo, one of Brazil’s most respected dance companies, and that requires a lot of dedication. I also try to squeeze as much time as possible with my daughter. I make sure to pick her up and take her to school every day, and we always have lunch together.
Marcelo: Being from Minas Gerais, it felt natural to work with soapstone, given how abundant it is in our state and our rich tradition of craftsmanship. Regarding the wood we use, we choose to only work with Brazilian species that have been harvested sustainably, like freijó or jequitibá, or sourced from demolition sites, like braúna.
Susana: It depends a lot on what is available to us at the moment, what is abundant, and that we are able to find a way to work with that feels true to us, and is ethical and sustainable. We also have a strong network of partners, like carpenters, sculptors, stonemasons, and other craftsmen, relationships that we have cultivated over the years.
We mix materials and techniques.
Marcelo: Find your own path, and believe in it and in yourself.
Susana: Keep going and work hard. Follow your instincts and intuition.
Marcelo: Contemporary, but also looking at the past and the future. In tune with the present, but also connected to memories, it finds inspiration in vintage pieces and aims to reconsider the past.
Susana: I don’t know.
Marcelo: Alvar Aalto, Finn Juhl, Ricardo Fasanello, Oscar Niemeyer, Jorge Zalszupin and Lina Bo Bardi.
Susana: Eileen Gray and the Brazilian modernists.
Marcelo: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Oki Sato from Nendo, and Guilherme Wentz.
Susana: Hella Jongerius, Patricia Urquiola, Claudia Moreira Salles.
Marcelo: Lucas Arruda, Solange Pessoa, Leda Catunda, and Cildo Meireles.
Susana: Maxwell Alexandre, Louise Bourgeois, Sophie Calle, Annette Messager, Wislawa Szymborska.
Marcelo: The balance between utility and poetry.
Susana: Thought versus matter.
“Contemporary, but also looking at the past and the future.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Marcelo: Ballance.
Susana: Pão de Queijo.
Marcelo: Losing my curiosity.
Susana: Some people are afraid of growing old and losing their sanity. I’m afraid of growing old and becoming too sane.
Marcelo: Over-adaptation.
Susana: That I’m always losing or misplacing things.
Marcelo: Classicism.
Susana: Judginess.
Marcelo: My mom.
Susana: My mom.
Marcelo: Buying furniture without a place to put it.
Susana: Having lunch at home with my daughter every day.
Marcelo: Attentive.
Susana: Being kind to myself.
Marcelo: Entrepreneurship.
Susana: Honesty.
Marcelo: The body.
Susana: Kindness.
Marcelo: Disposition.
Susana: Intelligence.
Marcelo: “Can you believe it?”
Susana: “Is it?”
Marcelo: Entrepreneurship.
Susana: Improving my financial literacy.
Marcelo: Many things.
Susana: My height.
Marcelo: Balancing two passions (architecture and design), two companies (Play Arquitetura and Alva Design), and two business partners (Juliana Figueiró at Plat and Susana at Alva).
Susana: My daughter Bebel.
Marcelo: A bird.
Susana: A cat.
Marcelo: Tokyo.
Susana: Rio.
Marcelo: My Lina Bo Bardi Bowl chair.
Susana: I don’t have any.
Marcelo: Cynicism.
Susana: Self-pitying.
Marcelo: Coloring with my niece Isabel.
Susana: Having a glass of wine.
Marcelo: Organization.
Susana: Spontaneity.
Marcelo: Humor and happiness.
Susana: Being able to count on them.
Marcelo: Roberto Bolaño, Elizabeth Bishop, Guimarães Rosa, Gertrude Stein.
Susana: Wisława Szymborska, Hilda Hilst, Edouard Louis, and Clarice Lispector.
Marcelo: No one.
Susana: Wonder Woman.
Marcelo: No one.
Susana: Wonder Woman.
Marcelo: My mom and my grandfathers.
Susana: My family.
Marcelo: Martin, Cláudia, Isabel, and Pedro.
Susana: Bebel, Gui.
Marcelo: People asking and choosing how well done they want their meat.
Susana: Arrogance.
Marcelo: Starting to work straight out of university.
Susana: Not having more kids.
Marcelo: In my sleep.
Susana: Suddenly.
Marcelo: Read a lot.
Susana: Painting.
“You can find inspiration in everything, if you can’t, look again.”
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