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Paola Lenti’s 8,100-square-foot flagship in São Paulo’s Jardins neighborhood was designed by Armentano Arquitetura as a three-story showroom with open interiors, a glass envelope and a planted façade. The vegetation is intended to grow into a denser screen over time, but no opening date or specific performance data is provided in the source report.
Paola Lenti’s São Paulo flagship is an 8,100-square-foot, three-story showroom designed by Armentano Arquitetura (AARQ) in the city’s Jardins neighborhood, with a glass-and-metal structure and a planted façade intended to grow into a denser veil. The design makes the building a framework for the Italian furniture brand’s products, while the evolving vegetation is meant to filter daylight and soften the showroom’s urban setting.
According to Design Milk’s project report, the showroom uses an open floor plan that allows furniture displays to be rearranged. An independent metal structure keeps the interior largely uninterrupted, while the glass envelope maintains visual connections with the surrounding landscape. Matte-black staircases and structural elements provide a strong contrast with the foliage and the furniture’s colors and textures.
The façade’s planted screen is formed by tensioned steel cables spanning openings in the structure. Vines grow along the cables and cascade over the glass. The planting is still developing: the design intends for it to become denser and filter incoming daylight over time. The source report does not give a timetable for that growth or quantify its effects on light, temperature or privacy.
The architecture was developed to sit alongside, rather than compete with, Paola Lenti’s furniture. The report describes the brand’s work as combining technical innovation and artisanal approaches to fibers and textiles. The showroom’s structural grid and living façade translate those interests into the building’s materials and composition, while leaving the furniture as the focus of the interior.
A Showroom Designed to Change
The project treats the building’s exterior as an evolving part of the showroom rather than a finished backdrop. Its growing vegetation is expected to change how the glass façade appears and how daylight enters, making the architecture’s final character dependent in part on plant growth and maintenance. That approach gives the building a slower timeline than a static retail fit-out, although the report does not establish measured environmental benefits.
For visitors and the brand, the open interior also has a practical role: displays can be rearranged without a fixed room-by-room layout. The dark structure, transparent envelope and planted screen provide a consistent setting for furniture collections that may change. The result links the showroom’s identity to both the objects inside and the living façade outside.
outdoor climbing plant support cables
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From Brand Materials to Building
Paola Lenti is an Italian furniture brand represented exclusively in Brazil by Casual Móveis, according to the Design Milk report. The brand operates in more than 60 countries, the report says. The São Paulo location places its products in Jardins, a neighborhood where the project’s compact urban site is surrounded by neighboring buildings.
AARQ’s design developed from a simple constraint: the architecture had to provide a setting for visually prominent furniture without overwhelming it. João Armentano, the firm’s partner and creative director, said the role was to frame the objects. The report says steel cables appeared in early studies; the planting was introduced later as the team developed the glass façade. Together, they addressed the challenge of using transparency on a site with nearby buildings by adding a layer of greenery and privacy.
The project was photographed by Ruy Teixeira after the vegetation had begun to grow. Design Milk reports that AARQ deliberately waited so the planting could start performing its intended architectural role before documenting the completed project. The report does not identify the date of the photography or the showroom’s opening.
“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
Growth, Performance and Opening Date
The source report does not state when the showroom opened, whether it is currently open to visitors, or whether a public opening event is planned. It also gives no schedule for the façade’s continued growth, details on plant species or maintenance, or measurements of how much shade, privacy or daylight filtering the vegetation provides. Those details would be needed to assess the screen’s performance beyond its stated design intent.
The report presents the façade as a living feature that will become denser, but it does not provide independent evaluation of the building’s environmental performance. The planting’s eventual appearance and the extent to which it covers the glass remain dependent on future growth and upkeep.
The Façade’s Next Growing Season
The next visible development is the continued growth of the vines across the cable framework. AARQ’s design intent is for the planting to form a denser veil and filter daylight, so the façade’s appearance is expected to evolve. The source material does not name a milestone date or explain how progress will be documented.
Readers seeking to visit should check with Paola Lenti or its Brazilian representative, Casual Móveis, for current showroom hours and access information. The report does not provide visitor policies, contact details or confirmation of the flagship’s opening schedule.
Key Questions
Where is Paola Lenti’s São Paulo flagship?
It is in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo, according to Design Milk’s project report.
Who designed the showroom?
Armentano Arquitetura (AARQ) designed the three-story flagship. João Armentano is identified in the report as the firm’s partner and creative director.
What is unusual about the façade?
The building combines glass and dark metal with tensioned cables that support climbing vines. The planting is intended to grow denser and filter daylight, though the report does not provide a timetable or measured results.
When did the showroom open?
The source report does not specify an opening date or confirm visitor hours. Contact the brand or its Brazilian representative for current access information.
Source: rss
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