Portuguese creative director and industrial designer Pedro Sottomayor founded his studio in 2009, which has seen him design an impressive portfolio of furniture and home/office accessories. Throughout his body of work, we can see a distinctive minimalist approach to his designs, exemplified by the ADAGIO chair—a special commission for the second concert hall of Casa da Música in Porto.

Manufactured by Nautilus, the project began with the challenge to create a chair that combined excellent acoustics and an ease to assemble and be stored away. The solution is an elegant chair in a custom-made thermoformed fabric with a stainless steel structure. A recyclable, stackable, and light chair that sits effortlessly in the elegant surroundings of the concert hall designed by Rem Koolhaas. Sottomayor explains:

The soft lines give great seating comfort by almost embracing the user’s body; one of my most comfortable chairs. It took two years of investigation and testing with the producer Nautilus to develop the recyclable chair shell. Using a unique production technique, we could finally combine beauty with ideal acoustics.

The ADAGIO chair will soon be available in a new finish making the shell in a recyclable and durable felt made of polyester. Through its warm surface and soft felt touch, it offers great seating comfort, making this updated design ideal for the home and office environments.