For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design. The Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design - moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the New Objectivity of Bauhaus and Radical Design, and from Postmodernism all the way up to the present day. Exactly one sixth of the size of the historical originals, the chairs are all true to scale and precisely recreate the smallest details of construction, material and color. The high standard of authenticity even extends to the natural grain of the wood, the reproduction of screws and the elaborate handicraft techniques involved. This has made the miniatures into popular collector's items as well as ideal illustrative material for universities, design schools and architects.

The Favela armchair is one of the most striking works by the Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. According to a statement by the brothers, the architecture of the typical shanty towns in their native country was the inspiration for the design and name of this extraordinary item of seating furniture.

Like the majority of hut-like dwellings, the favela is also nailed and glued together from oddments and waste materials. The Campanas made use of small, differently-sized strips of wood, as are produced in abundance in every joinery, for their representative chair.

In the Favela, they prove that objects of singular elegance and beauty can even originate from apparent mundane, worthless materials. Over and above this, the Favela throws a new light on the dynamic relationship between a one-off design and a mass-produced product. Although every chair is made from the same material and to an identical construction plan, each finished article still retains its individuality in the detail.

Each Vitra miniature is true to the original in construction and materials, and reduced in size on a scale of 1:6. Each miniature is packaged in a wooden box, accompanied by an informational booklet. Production notes: Each of the delicate objects are made by hand; on average, each miniature requires five hours of careful manual work. Ongoing quality control ensures that every miniature corresponds to its larger original in terms of finishing, details and materials.