This December, Design Miami/ 2013 will host several installations that celebrate and reflect upon Miami’s unique visual landscape: our midcentury modern style (also known as Miami Modern, or MiMo), vivid tropical vistas, and diverse architectural vernacular.
Here’s a sneak preview of some of the galleries, Commissions, and Collaborations that will pay tribute, examine, and even integrate the aesthetics and materials that make Miami, Miami.
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Lightweight Porcelain stools and bench by Djim Berger, 2010-2013. Photo courtesy of Galerie BSL
Here Comes the Sun! by Galerie BSL
Galerie BSL from Paris will be turning their exhibition booth into a panorama that mirrors Miami Beach. A cabana will be installed along with specially commissioned objects and furniture that reflect the palette and shapes of this seaside city, including Ayala Serfaty’s luminous, biomorphic sculptures with their yellow, blue and pink tones, and Faye Toogood’s 83-inch, minimalist floor lamp standing tall like a tree.
It wouldn’t be enough to only show the bright, relaxing side of Miami – there will also be the surreal, sea anenome and spider clocks by Nacho Carbonell, coral-resembling benches by Dutch alchemist Djim Berger, and the new “Interior Treasures” pieces by jewelry designer Taher Chemirik, which include a brass petal paravent with turquoise, bright pink and green rare hard stones. Other surprises await in this unique installation.
Image may be NSFW.
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Swarovski Crystal Palace presents Mangue Groove, by Guilherme Torres
Premiering at Design Miami / 2013, Swarovski Crystal Palace will show Mangue Groove, an innovative architectural installation by São Paulo-based designer Guilherme Torres. Inspired by the Brazilian mangrove forests (mangue in Portuguese), these complex and unique systems also occupy the wetlands and coast of Miami.
The steadfast mangroves develop dense networks of roots which help protect the coastal environments of Brazil and South Florida. Torres will create an installation that combines the natural beauty and function of the Mangrove forests with the structure and concept of the Voronoi diagram. The Voronoi diagram, the division of spaces into cells with corresponding focal points, acts as the DNA for the Mangue Groove installation.
Torres brings these ideas to life through his use of synthetic tubes filled with Swarovski’s lead-free advanced crystals, linked together by geometric joints of certified and reclaimed wood.
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Outdoor Rocker, Walter Lamb, bronze and rope, 1950. Photo courtesy of Mark McDonald
Walter Lamb outdoor furniture at Mark McDonald Gallery
A preeminent dealer in mid-twentieth century decorative arts, Mark McDonald has dealt in furniture designed by architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Gerrit Rietveld, Alvar Aalto and Frank Gehry. For this year’s Miami fair, he’ll be showing the work of midcentury designer Walter Lamb.
Lamb conceived his iconic outdoor furniture in the mid-1940s when he started using surplus bronze tubing from United States Navy. Using this and other industrial materials to create his signature bold curvatures, Lamb’s outdoor furniture is incredibly resistant to weather and highly durable – a necessity in Miami’s equatorial climate. Limestone greens and bronzing patinas also evoke the textures of local geography.
Image may be NSFW.
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TENT PILE, Design Miami/ Commission by formlessfinder
Since 2008, Design Miami/ has commissioned emerging architecture practices to design unique architectural experiences at the fair. For this year’s Miami fair, formlessfinder will fabricate a pavilion using 500 tons of sand, which will support a custom-milled, aluminum cantilevered roof.
After researching the unique geology and geography of Miami, formlessfinder was inspired by the fluidity required of local building techniques, since much of the city’s architecture sits on this ever shifting material. Visually, TENT PILE will be a maximalist interpretation of local features, while at the same time acting as a place of refuge as well as playful exploration.
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Hugo França seated in one of his pieces. Photo courtesy of T Magazine
Hugo França at Fairchild Botanical Gardens
Though not an official satellite of the fair, this event deserves to be called out. Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami’s largest, lushest botanical green space, will be hosting the work of Brazilian woodworker Hugo França. França uses natural materials that are reclaimed from felled, burned, or dead trees, in an effort to create furniture that is sustainable as much as it is astounding.
Monumental seating made from giant Pequi trees from the Brazilian rainforest will be installed in the landscape of Fairchild tropical Garden, creating an awe-inspiring design experience of great scale, out in the open. Curated by Cristina Grajales Gallery in collaboration with R20th Century, the show will reflect that varied influences and rich topography of our tropical metropolis.
Hugo França’s works will be on exhibit at the Garden from December 1, 2013 – May 31, 2014, as part of the exhibition Design at Fairchild.
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