Over three-dozen galleries from around the world will gather in Miami Beach to present modern and contemporary collectible design as part of Design Miami/'s ninth edition, taking place December 4 - 8. This year's participants represent 10 countries, including first-time exhibitors from Russia and Lebanon. Highlights of this year’s Design Miami/ are listed below.
Maarten Baas, Grandfather Clock (2013) at Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Digital Design—The fascination with the aesthetic tension between old and new is typified by the output of designers such as Maarten Baas, Astrid Krogh and Humans Since 1982 who utilize contemporary technologies and materials to create works that communicate at a strongly human level. Krogh's optic fiber tapestries use traditional techniques to otherworldly ends, while Random International's A Study of Time re-captures importance of light and shadow to the understanding of the passage of time within early civilizations.
Haas Brothers at R20th Century Gallery
Emerging American Designers—The highly diverse work of young American designers on display encompasses everything from the experimental, organically formed ceramics of the Haas brothers to Sebastian Errazuriz's meditations on mortality delivered in the form of furnishings rich with funeral pomp. Jonathan Muecke, meanwhile, engages in more formal, philosophical investigations into the nature of products, examining how far form and function can be pushed before an object changes identity. While Jon Stam, recipient of the 2013 WDOF Award, explores abstractions of time and place, depicting bucolic American scenography in his new series of Claude Glass.
Taher Chemirlk at Galerie BSL
Material Investigations—Nucleo creates a contemporary fossil, preserving decaying wood inside a block of epoxy resin resembling amber. Baroud and Dibeh also investigate preciousness in their Wires series that uses simple components and archetypal shapes. Jeweler Taher Chemirik, meanwhile, uses his knowledge of precious and semi-precious gems to create a series of tables featuring tops sliced out of rare hard stones, including a single 71-inch rock crystal.
Charlotte Perriand at Gallerie Downtown
Women in Design—Fantastic designs by influential women are on display throughout the fair, including an important body of work created by Charlotte Perriand for the Borot family in Paris over many decades. Glass artist Ritsue Mishima's exquisite colorless forms created with master craftsmen from Murano, are also on display, as well as Hella Jongerius' recent investigations into the structural application of polychrome resin.
Maria Pergay at Demisch Danant
Notable works by leading lights of twentieth century design on display for the first time include Jean Prouvé's unique prefabricated building prototype War Victims House, which receives is US debut at Design Miami/. The half-century-long career of Maria Pergay is receiving special focus, including the exhibition of dynamic stainless steel work alongside historic tapestries from Sheila Hicks.
This program of exhibitions presented by carefully selected galleries from Europe, the United States and Asia will be enriched by a dynamic series of design talks, site-specific installations and satellite events.
Highlights of the talks include Richard Meier in conversation with Paul Goldberger, Margaret Russell in conversation with Muriel Brandolini and Martha Stewart in conversation with Stefano Tonchi.
Each December, Design Miami/ commissions early career architects to build a designed environment for the fair’s entrance as part of its biannual Design Commissions program.
Tent Pile entrance rendering
Harnessing multiple, often unexpected, properties of sand and aluminum, Formlessfinder’s Tent Pile pavilion provides shade, seating, cool air and a space to play for the city’s public. The pavilion appears as a dramatic aluminum roof miraculously balanced on the apex of a great pyramid of loose sand. Milled aluminum benches give resting space in the shade, where the cool air naturally generated by the structure will fan visitors.
Perrier-Jouët has also announced its design collaboration with London-based Dutch designer Simon Heijdens, who will create an immersive experience to be unveiled at the show.
Simon Heijdens
Titled Phare No. 1–9 this ‘lightwork’ explores the relationship between the medium and the message with an entirely new way to express a story in a poetic, sensory work. Playing with materials, volume and movement, Phare No. 1–9 merges the conceptual and the tangible to propel the Art Nouveau aesthetic into the 21st Century.
“This December, visitors to the fair will discover the widest range of historic positions to date as well as new work, which will debut in Miami,” said Marianne Goebl, director of Design Miami/.
The show is then open to the public Wednesday, December 4, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Thursday, December 5 and Saturday, December 7, 12:00 – 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday, December 8, 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.
