Studio Arthur Casas Plays Off Light and Shadow in this São Paulo Showroom

2021 Best of Year winner for Showroom

Launched in 2020 to showcase sustainable furniture conceived and manufactured in Brazil, +55 Design needed a physical environment that would capture the essential Brazilian-ness of its wares. So who better to turn to for it than hometown architect and Interior Design Hall of Fame member Arthur Casas. His and his team’s solution resulted in a 7,750-square-foot, two-level showroom, its striking minimalism allowing the furniture to take center stage.

Controlling and modulating the strong tropical sun was a focus of the project. It’s also been a focus of Brazilian design for some time, giving rise to the cast-concrete facade screens known as cobogós. Casas’s version adds intriguing pattern—what he calls a “game of light and shadow”—to the otherwise neutral interior. It’s there that an amorphous opening connects the ground level and the mezzanine, adding a sculptural element. Encased in MDF paneling with a European oak finish, it’s topped by a retractable glass roof that floods the interior with natural light; from the mezzanine level, the opening serves to frame seating and tables by the likes of Roberta Banqueri, Studio MK27, and Casas himself grouped below. That level literally spills outdoors onto a terrace, which is surrounded by lush native plants, protected by a retractable awning, and furnished with more pieces by Casas.

Studio Arthur Casas: Arthur Casas; Regiane Khristian; Rafael Palombo; Alessandra Mattar; Luisa Mader; Fernanda Costa; Paulina Tabet