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Paola Lenti’s São Paulo flagship, designed by Armentano Arquitetura, is a three-story, 8,100-square-foot showroom in the Jardins neighborhood. Its glass-and-metal structure is wrapped in climbing vegetation designed to grow into a denser screen, framing the brand’s furniture while softening views into the showroom.
Paola Lenti’s three-story flagship showroom in São Paulo’s Jardins neighborhood uses a glass-and-metal frame and a façade of climbing plants to present the Italian furniture brand’s collections. Designed by Armentano Arquitetura (AARQ), the 8,100-square-foot building is intended to let the furniture take visual focus while its vegetation grows into a denser screen over time.
The showroom’s open floor plan allows furniture displays to be rearranged, while an independent metal structure keeps the interior largely uninterrupted. Glass surrounds the space, connecting its interior to the landscape and to tropical plants, including palms, broad-leafed species and trailing vines. Matte-black staircases and structural elements provide a sharp contrast with the greenery.
For the planted façade, tensioned steel cables span openings in the metal structure and support vines across the glass. The greenery is already part of the building’s appearance, but the planting is intended to keep growing and form a thicker veil that filters daylight. Design Milk reports that the project’s images were made after the plants had begun to perform this architectural role; the source does not give a specific photography date.
AARQ developed the design in stages. Steel cables appeared in early studies, while the planted screen came later, alongside the decision to use glass. The site is compact and surrounded by neighboring buildings, making transparency a less straightforward choice. According to the report, vegetation gives the glass envelope added privacy and a softer appearance.
A Showroom Designed to Change
The building makes the showroom itself part of how Paola Lenti’s products are presented. Rather than compete with the furniture through a highly finished interior, AARQ uses a restrained structural frame and greenery as a setting for the brand’s colorful, tactile pieces. The arrangement also links the architecture to the furniture’s materials: the vines and cables echo, in another medium, the engineered fibers and woven surfaces associated with the brand.
The planting makes the project’s appearance a continuing process rather than a fixed finish. As the vines grow, the screen is expected to become denser and filter more daylight. That design intention matters in a retail setting where interiors are often photographed as completed scenes: here, the façade is meant to change after construction, although the report does not quantify the expected pace or extent of that change.
The project also shows how a glass façade can be adapted to a closely built urban site. The source describes the planting as a way to soften the transparent envelope and provide privacy, but does not provide measurements of light, temperature, energy use or other building performance. Its environmental effects beyond the stated design role cannot be established from the available account.
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The Brand and Design Brief
Paola Lenti is an Italian furniture brand whose work combines technical innovation and artisanal approaches to fibers and textiles. Design Milk reports that it operates in more than 60 countries and is represented exclusively in Brazil by Casual Móveis. The São Paulo flagship gives the brand a dedicated setting in Jardins, a neighborhood within the city.
AARQ’s brief, as described in the report, was to create an architectural setting that would support rather than compete with the furniture’s visual identity. João Armentano, the firm’s partner and creative director, said the design treats the building as a frame for the objects. The resulting composition brings together a precise metal grid, transparent glazing and vegetation, balancing controlled structure with a façade that will continue to grow.
“Our role isn’t to compete visually with the objects. It’s precisely to frame them in the best possible way.”
— João Armentano, AARQ partner and creative director, as quoted by Design Milk
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Growth, Performance and Opening Date
The available report does not state the showroom’s opening date, its precise current operating status, or whether public access is limited to customers or appointments. It also gives no schedule for the vines to reach their intended density, nor details about plant species, maintenance requirements or how the façade will be managed as it grows.
While the source says the vegetation is expected to filter daylight and add privacy, it provides no measured data on those effects. It does not report energy performance, indoor temperatures, daylight levels or a comparison with an unplanted façade. Those outcomes should not be treated as established results based on the design description alone.
metal and glass architectural elements
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The Façade’s Next Growth Stage
The next visible change will depend on the continued growth of the vines across the tensioned cable system. AARQ’s stated design intention is for the planting to form a denser living screen, but the source does not give a timeline or identify a forthcoming project milestone. The building’s appearance and the degree of daylight filtering may develop as the plants mature.
Further details about operations, planting care and the façade’s performance would clarify how the design works over time. The report does not announce a scheduled update or provide a date for additional documentation.
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Key Questions
Where is Paola Lenti’s São Paulo flagship?
It is in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil.
Who designed the showroom?
The three-story showroom was designed by Armentano Arquitetura (AARQ).
How large is the flagship?
Design Milk reports that the building measures 8,100 square feet.
What makes the façade distinctive?
Vines grow on tensioned steel cables across the glass-and-metal exterior. The planting is intended to become denser and filter daylight as it grows.
When did the showroom open?
The source report does not specify an opening date or provide details on public visiting arrangements.
Source: rss
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