Gradas

Info.

Who has never sat on the steps of a grandstand? That familiar image of people gathering spontaneously around a simple architectural structure is the starting point for Gradas, the Spanish word for grandstand.

UNS, the Dutch architecture studio founded by Ben van Berkel, reinterprets this urban typology and brings it indoors through a new seating family for Sancal. Gradas draws on the idea of collective seating as a social space, where form does not dictate a single way of use but instead encourages multiple ways of inhabiting it.

UNS’s design philosophy embraces the notion that objects can embody spatial and social qualities that extend beyond their function. In its XL version, Gradas expresses this idea through a stepped, multi-level configuration that promotes relaxed, intuitive, and informal interaction.

As a result, this version of Gradas takes on an almost architectural presence, capable of structuring a space while activating new forms of social exchange in open, high-traffic environments. The collection also translates this same vitality into more compact settings. The three-seater sofa, or L version, is particularly suited to waiting areas, while the armchair, or S version, fits naturally into both residential and contract interiors, always retaining its sculptural character.

With its architectural identity and inherently social nature, Gradas blurs the boundaries between furniture and space, proposing a more open, flexible, and collective way of inhabiting contemporary interiors.