Design Miami/ – curated by Aric Chen – focuses on the theme of water. At South Beach many selected galleries have gathered, from all over the world.
Friedman Benda in collaboration with Daniel Arsham presents an immersive installation in a domestic setting inspired by Japan. Functional Art Gallery reinterprets the Abstract Gallery of Peggy Guggenheim, the revolutionary initiative from 1942, while Converso and the interior decorator Billy Cotton create a booth focusing on the works of Osvaldo Borsani.
Brazilian design is the theme of Mercado Moderno through the works of its creator, the Portuguese Joaquim Tenreiro, lit by a limited edition signed by Tom Fecht, in a harmonious fusion of nature, technology, music, video and light.
R & Company devotes part of its space to a solo show by Jeff Zimmerman made in collaboration with James Mongrain. Other galleries pay homage to the female icons of design of the mid-1900s, with works by Charlotte Perriand. Galerie Patrick Seguin presents a cabinet by the designer created for the Cité Cansado in Mauritania, while Magen H Gallery shows items inspired by her many trips to Japan.
The protagonists at Erastudio Apartment-Gallery are three women who made their mark on Italian design and art from the 1960s to the 1980s: Dadamaino, Shama and Nanda Vigo.
In the area of creative collaborations, Maison Perrier-Jouët has invited the designer Andrea Mancuso of Analogia Project to interpret the great heritage of the brand connected to Art Nouveau, with an innovative and unusual experience of champagne. The result is Metamorphosis, an unexpected collection of six glasses that explores the transformations of nature, from the grape to the bubbly, in a perfect synthesis of crafts and new technology. Creations steeped in histories and emotions, because every wine becomes a catalyst of memories, as described by the cellar master Hervé Deschamps. Stories interpreted by Mancuso with designs and colors that become poetic crystal sculptures from Fondazione Berengo in Murano.
Evoking the exteriors of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, also known as the ‘square Colosseum’ in Rome, headquarters of Fendi, the Swiss art duo Lovis Caputo and Sarah Kueng have collaborated with the fashion brand in a special project for Design Miami/ 2019. With the intriguing name Roman Molds, the pieces made by the artists combine traditional crafts and contemporary technologies, in keeping with the philosophy of Silvia Venturini Fendi, with an experimental approach to the use and combination of materials. The outcome is an artifact that is surprising for its image and its reinvention of the heritage of Fendi leather goods, also with an unexpected interpretation of the timeless Peekaboo bag.
While at Design Miami/ USM Modular Furniture celebrates the North American launch of On Display, the Heller E line of furnishings with incorporated lighting, with an installation made in collaboration with De Vera to light up a collection of Venetian antique glass, figures dating back to the 18th century and unique jewelry creations by Federico de Vera, with Water Swarovski explores the sustainable use of hydric resources, continuing a commitment that began in 2000 with the Swarovski Waterschool.
Nature is also a leading factor in the collaboration between Evian and Virgil Abloh with One Drop Can Make a Rainbow, a limited edition of collectible objects that narrate sustainable use of water: drawings inspired by one of the most magical things in nature, namely the rainbow. “The idea that a drop of water can generate a rainbow – Abloh says – was the inspiration and metaphor behind my first project as a creative consultant of Evian for Sustainable Innovation Design.”
Values connected with sustainability are also in the spotlight of the social network Instagram @Design with #designforall, through the selection of creative talents capable of interpreting values of inclusion, accessibility and sustainability. A vision developed at Design Miami/ by Studio Swine, in which four designers – ALLELES Design Studio, Yona Care, Kano in collaboration with Map Project Office and Deva Pardue – are on view as the protagonists of #designforall.
