Born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. As a child he moved with his family to Tel-Aviv, where he studied mechanics and physics and attended an art studio where he learned drawing and painting. He returned to Brazil in 1948 and, next to his brother, opened in 1954 the Arteviva store, in Rio de Janeiro, where he sold the furniture he created from experiments with new materials. He produced furniture made of wood or iron, but which often brought glass plates attached with his concrete paintings. He died in 2020, internationally recognized as one of the biggest names in Kinetic Art.