DESIGN CENTRE NINI ANDRADE SILVA | Nini Andrade Silva

The well known designer Nini Andrade Silva opens her first Design Centre, located in Madeira, the Portuguese Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

The Design Centre Nini Andrade Silva is a place of meeting and sharing – a laboratory of ideas – with an eclectic collection of services and spaces, such as the permanent exhibition, a store, a cafeteria and a signature restaurant of Michelin Star awarded chef, Miguel Laffan.

The existing permanent exhibition, which is a part of the private collection of Silva, is at the heart of the Design Centre’s creation, a project whose principal theme helps to explain, in a way previously unexamined, the history and culture of Madeira and its strong connection to the history of the sea.

"(...) The impact of Nini Andrade Silva’s work exceeds its source of inspiration, acquiring a life of its own, independently of its origin, to impose itself with its artistic beauty and a mastery of detail that strangely approaches the texture and refinement of the great masters of photography.” In, COLECÇÃO BERARDO - Corpo e Matéria: Cinco Artistas da Madeira. Sintra Museu de Arte Moderna Colecção Berardo. Sintra, 2008.

This influence and inspiration is clearly evident in the pieces conceived by Silva and her team, in the Garouta do Calhau Collection – composed of sub-collections that encompass the specialities of painting, furniture, ceramics, jewelry, etc. – all inspired by the pebbles found in the beaches of Madeira, and whose creative process represents, in essence, a heartfelt homage to the poor children of the Island, that were known as Garotos do Calhau – Boys of the Pebbles.

"Boys of the Pebbles – “Garotos do Calhau” – was the name by which were known the young boys who once roamed the beaches filled with pebbles in Madeira Island, showing off the Art of Mergulhança to the tourists – the term by which were characterized the playful activities of many young people in the bay of Funchal, diving along the anchored ships and catching coins thrown overboard by the tourists. These boys were true acrobats, swimming through the "Bomboteiro" boats and selling typical products of the Madeira Island".

Nini Andrade Silva has adopted this designation and made it a Symbol of art, culture, beauty and generosity!