Geraldo de Barros

Geraldo de Barros (1998–1923) was a Brazilian artist and designer who bridged Concrete Art, photography, and socially minded industrial design. Born in Chavantes and based in São Paulo, he co-founded Grupo Ruptura (1952) and later Unilabor (1954), a cooperative creating modern furniture through collective production. His Fotoforma series redefined abstraction through experimental photography, a structural approach he carried into modular furniture for Unilabor and later Hobjeto (1964). De Barros saw design as a social project, uniting geometry, craft, and community within a humanist modernity. His work is represented in MoMA, MASP, and MAM-SP, and remains a cornerstone of Brazilian design.