Águeda Arts Centre in Portugal
A Dialogue Between Art, Geometry and Expressive Design
In a space dedicated to creativity, furniture becomes another form of expression.
The Águeda Arts Centre brings contemporary and eclectic art closer to the community, creating an environment that encourages creativity, critical thinking and participatory cultural experiences.
Within this context, design does more than provide a functional response. It becomes part of the visual conversation.
The Edge Lounge Chair and Lou Lounge Chair by Sentta introduce two distinctly different design languages into the Arts Centre—one architectural and geometric, the other soft and expressive.
Together, they demonstrate how cultural centre furniture can contribute to the identity of a space while creating places for visitors to pause, observe and engage with their surroundings.
Designed by Mauro Lourenço, the Edge Lounge Chair makes a bold geometric statement.
Inspired by the folded forms of origami, its sculptural silhouette is constructed around clean angles and sharp lines. The strong presence of ash wood reinforces its architectural character, giving the chair a sense of structure and precision.
Against this geometry, the traditional capitonê upholstery technique introduces an unexpected layer of depth and texture.
It is a meeting of apparently contrasting references. Origami and upholstery. Sharp geometry and tactile softness. Contemporary structure and a technique associated with classic furniture.
The result is a lounge chair that feels both architectural and refined.
Mauro Lourenço’s functional approach and minimalist aesthetic are clearly expressed through Edge, where structure, material and proportion come together without unnecessary complexity.
Alongside it, the Lou Lounge Chair, designed by Ana Coelho, changes the rhythm.
Where Edge is defined by angles, Lou introduces softness. Where Edge exposes the architectural character of wood, Lou is fully upholstered in velvet and supported by refined metal legs.
Its design brings together modern and Art Nouveau influences through noble materials, expressive proportions and carefully considered finishes.
Lou was conceived as a statement piece with attitude and character—a design intended to attract attention rather than disappear quietly into its surroundings.
Ana Coelho’s eclectic approach gives the chair a distinctive personality, reflecting the more expressive, haute couture-inspired side of Sentta’s design language.
Within the Águeda Arts Centre, the relationship between the two pieces becomes particularly relevant. An arts centre is not a neutral environment. It exists to stimulate curiosity, introduce different perspectives and create encounters between people and creative expression.
Furniture can participate in that experience. It can provide comfort while contributing shape, material and visual rhythm to the architecture. It can respond quietly to its surroundings or establish a stronger presence of its own.
Edge and Lou approach that role from opposite directions. Edge is precise. Lou is expressive.
Edge explores geometry. Lou explores softness.
Placed within the same cultural environment, their differences become part of the composition rather than something that needs to be resolved.
This dialogue reflects the eclectic character of the Águeda Arts Centre itself. For architects and designers specifying cultural centre furniture, this relationship between function and expression is particularly important.
Cultural spaces need places where visitors can stop between experiences, sit in conversation or simply spend more time observing their surroundings. Yet those pieces also exist within environments where architecture and visual culture carry particular significance.
Furniture therefore becomes both useful and visible. At the Águeda Arts Centre, Edge and Lou embrace that dual role.
Two designers. Two distinctive approaches. Two lounge chairs brought together within a space devoted to creativity and contemporary culture.
Geometry meets softness. Function meets expression. Contemporary furniture becomes part of the cultural experience.
Featured Sentta pieces: Edge Lounge Chair · Lou Lounge Chair
Project: Águeda Arts Centre, Águeda, Portugal
Furniture: Sentta · Edge Lounge Chair · Lou Lounge Chair
