Press Release
Silver A' Design Award in Furniture Design Goes to Balanco Sofa by Daniel Coutinho
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Daniel Coutinho for furniture design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 25, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category for Balanco Sofa by Daniel Coutinho, designed for Daniel Coutinho Estudio. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Balanco Sofa
Balanco is a modular sofa designed for contemporary interiors. The name refers to the cantilever, the structural principle used to reduce the perceived weight of the piece. Balanco combines a suspended upholstered base, a solid wood backrest and an integrated natural stone side table on a metal support. Visible support points are minimized, so the large volume appears light. Solid wood, brass, stone, linen, leather and velvet create a contrast between material density and visual lightness. The total length is 3500 mm.
About Daniel Coutinho
Daniel Coutinho first stepped into the world of furniture design during his childhood, when he watched his father work as an upholsterer. In addition to learning about the main techniques and materials, life in Santo Amaro motivated him to develop a detail-oriented look at the world around him — Daniel used his imagination to transform pebbles and other elements of nature into toys. As an adult, he specialized in furniture, upholstery, metallurgy, and woodworking, creating prototypes for different Brazilian designers. In 2008, he officially entered the world of design and gained recognition by participating in the main events of the field and creating authentic, functional pieces.
Award Record
Daniel Coutinho is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Furniture Design Award
The A' Furniture Design Award is an international furniture competition recognizing good furniture designs by best furniture designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to furniture designers, product designers, industrial design studios and furniture brands from all countries. Entries typically include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. Awarded furniture designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/182249
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182249
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182249
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/380616
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.estudiodanielcoutinho.com.br/en/studio/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Balanco Sofa
- Function
- Sofa
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Dark Gray, Light Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Daniel Coutinho Estudio
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Daniel Coutinho
- Country
- Brazil
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182249
Credits
- Image Credits
- photographer: Fernando Crescente Fotografia, Balanco, 2026; photographer: Fernando Crescente Fotografia, Balanco, 2026. Video: Fernando Crescente Fotografia, Balanco, 2026.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The structure was conceived to minimize visible support points, reducing the perception of weight in a large-scale piece. The contrast between dense materials and the resulting formal lightness establishes a distinctive structural language. The intentional misalignment reinforces its identity, while the cantilevered side table, supported by a metal base, enhances the sense of suspension and lightness.
- Inspiration
- Architectural and structural references guided the development of a solution that explores visual suspension as a design language. Throughout the process, the investigation of the interaction between solid wood, brass, stone, linen, leather, and velvet guided the search for material balance, where the contrast between physical density and visual lightness defi nes the expression and identity of the piece.
- Research
- Applied research in furniture design focused on the relationship between structure, materiality, and visual perception. The objective was to investigate how structural cantilever and material combinations could reduce the perceived weight of upholstered pieces. The methodology included formal analysis, material experimentation, 3D modeling, and prototyping. The results show that balancing structure and materials redefi nes visual perception, contributing to new approaches in contemporary design.
- Challenge
- The challenge was to transform a large-scale piece into a visually lightweight volume, requiring structural refi nement, iterative prototyping, and precise control of proportions and materials. The result demonstrates how engineering and design work together to redefi ne structural perception in contemporary furniture.
- Realization and Technology
- The structure was designed with strategic load distribution and visually minimized support points, allowing the suspension effect while maintaining structural integrity. The upholstery uses multi-density foams and coverings in linen, leather, and velvet, applied using advanced upholstery techniques. The combination of structural engineering and construction precision transforms high-density materials into a visually light and continuous expression.
- Operation and Interaction
- The sofa integrates the seat and side table into a continuous composition, where the cantilevered element expands its functionality without compromising visual lightness. The structure was conceived to reduce the perception of weight, creating a sense of suspension. Unlike conventional solutions, the solid wood backrest is treated as an essential part of the design, allowing the piece to be freely positioned and appreciated from all angles within the space.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was developed over two months at the brand’s studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The process involved conceptual investigation, structural development, and material experimentation, focusing on the integration of visual lightness, stability, and balance between different materials, resulting in a solution that combines technical rigor and contemporary expression.
- Specifications
- Modular system composed of a suspended upholstered base, structural solid wood backrest, and integrated natural stone side table with metal support. Total length: 3500mm Depth: 920mm Seat height: 430mm Total height: 665mm Side table: Total length 700mm:Depth: 700mm
- Keywords
- structural lightness, contemporary furniture, Brazilian design, modular sofa, noble materials, structural cantilever, sophistication, authorial design, material contrast, elegance
