Carlo Hauner (1927-1997) and Martin Eisler (1913-1977) were the founders of the iconic Brazilian furniture company Forma. Their accessible furniture pieces are characterised by the use of Brazilian woods and thin tubular frames, and they also often worked with textiles and ceramics. The company became one of the biggest names in Brazilian furniture production.

Carlo Hauner

The Italian designer Carlo Hauner (1927 – 1997) originally studied as a painter. In 1948 he moved to Brazil and dedicated himself to design, ceramics, and textiles, forging a successful partnership with Martin Eisler in 1953. Their partnership was short lived as Hauner moved back to Italy in 1958, but Forma’s legacy was to become one of the great design initiatives of South America.

Martin Eisler

Martin Eisler (1913 – 1977) was an Austrian born Jewish architect. He moved to Argentina in 1938 to escape Nazi Europe and built his name as an interior designer, founding his own firm Interieur Forma. He moved to Brazil in the early 1950s where he met Carlo Hauner, partnering with him to open Galeria Artesanal in São Paulo, which later became Forma. Eisler was left to manage it on his own upon the departure of Hauner in 1958.