Highlights: Design Miami 2016

Every year the design world’s most influential collectors, gallerists, designers and curators descend upon Design Miami. Hosted alongside the annual Art Basel fairs in Miami, US and in Basel, Switzerland, the event has grown to be one of the more interesting fairs for procuring, exhibiting, discussing and creating collectable design.

Seperate to Salone, the event naturally blends and binds art and design, ultimately presenting an interesting alliance and intersection between the two disciplines. However a criss-cross of art and design is not new – so what’s the value of presenting design in a commercial art setting?

Initally, the concept probably sought to borrow from a powerful art market, although now in its 10th year Design Miami is offering a platform for design buoyed by all the energy and experimentation of art. Design that’s a little more subjective, emotive – and collectable.

Philippe Malouin’s orbiting installation, The Speed of Light
A rollercoaster of light, commissioned by Craig Robins, co-founder of Design Miami.

The Flamingo Lounge
Think pink – and all things Miami fever. Designed by Tabanlıoğlu Architects, this exclusive collector’s lounge was rendered entirely in marshmallow pink resin. The space took its cues from cult filmmaker John Waters and Mies van der Rohe’s minimalism.

Michael Anastassiades’ Bespoke Loops
Launched by The Future Perfect, ‘The Bespoke Loop’ collection is a soft pistachio green, and Anastassiades’ first use of a little colour.

Chamber Gallery
Exhibiting for the first time at Design Miami, the New York design gallery stirred the pot with a dramatic centrepiece by wacky Dutch design duo Studio Job entitled Car Crash. The booth also included Niek Pulles’s car seats covered with architectural and industrial forms, and the bright green Botanical Sofa and Table by Azuma Makoto.