|
Galerie Kreo; Bathboat Tub: oak and red ceder. Courtesy Wieki Somers
Armchair Artists
By Alfredo Triff
Did you know that in 2004, Wallpaper magazine chose Miami’s Design District as one of the nation’s pioneering destinations for design? Planned by DPZ (Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company), a leader in New Urbanism, the 18-block pedestrian-friendly locality has attracted a surprising cluster of worldwide prestigious stores, from Knoll, Poliform, Luminaire, NiBa and Bulthaup to Kartell, Poltrona Frau, and MiaCucina, among others. The district accommodates well-known art spaces like Bernice Steinbaum, The Moore Space and architectural offices (Alison Spear, HOK, Tsao Design and Chad Oppenheim).
To make it big, the district’s synthesis of craft, art, design and architecture needed one more push. Last year, developer Craig Robins founded Design Miami in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach 2005. His idea for the fair made a lot of sense: Recognize the work of a top-notch world designer; invite him or her to execute a project in situ, while bringing cutting-edge furniture galleries from all over the world, along with satellite exhibitions, talks and other events, all in a weekend! It helps that Robins just got the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum “Design Patron Award” for his AQUA Allison Island project in Miami Beach. “Robins was the right person for the job because he has functioned as the brain behind the district’s direction,” an important architect who wishes to remain anonymous tells me. Did the fair work? Cathy Leff, director of the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, describes it as “unbelievably successful.”
The 2005 “Designer of the Year” went to Pritzker winner Zaha Hadid. She produced “Elastika,” a gravity-defying sculptural installation in The Moore Building’s atrium, which caused a stir. Another eye-grabbing piece was Swiss landscape designer Enzo Enea’s “Garden Lounge” (an installation of steel cables, square lily ponds and stands of bamboo in a former parking lot on 40th Street). This year’s “Designer of the Year” goes to Australian designer Marc Newson, who is famous for his interior designs for the Claudia Skoda Boutique (Berlin), the Pod Bar (Tokyo), his Falcon 900B long-range jet and numerous other projects. For his Miami commission, Newson will produce a new fence for the Design & Architecture Senior High (DASH). “The current fence separating the courtyard of the magnet school from NE Second Avenue is not very attractive,” said Ambra Medda, co-founder and director of Design Miami 06. “Marc’s design will enhance the neighborhood and provide inspiration for the budding designers attending DASH,” Medda said.
The convergence of architecture, craft, design and art is not new. It harks back to architect Joseph Maria Olbrich’s late-19th century plan of “Gesamtkunstwerk.” Later, the Weisenhoff Estate of 1927 in Stuttgart, a 21-building plan for the working class designed by 16 famous architects, sort of embodied the idea. In the 1970s designers like Verner Panton tried so-called “environments.” Then the installation art of the 1990s further blurred the distinction between art, interior design and architecture. It turns out the main theme behind Design Miami 06 is “blurred boundaries.” Coincidence? Medda helps put it in context: “The limits between the traditional disciplines, such as technology vs. craft and functionalism vs. expressionism, are breaking down.”
Design Miami 06, which convenes from Friday to Sunday (Dec. 8 to 10), brings 18 first-rate international design galleries into the historic Moore Building (a four-story structure with corridors and an inner atrium), including first-timers Sebastian+Barquet and Phurniture, both from New York. Returning galleries include Antik (New York), Nilufar (Milan), R 20th Century (New York), Jousse Entreprise (Paris), Contrasts Gallery (Shanghai) and Philippe Denys (Brussels).
Here are some previews of what you’ll find inside The Moore:
Galerie Kreo, a trendy “research lab” of contemporary design in Paris, owned by Didier and Clémence Krzentowski, will exhibit pieces by Alessandro Mendini (the creator of the startling “Proust” chair) and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, the creators of the so-called “micro-architecture,” a hybrid between furniture and built environments shaping open-ended areas of activity (in Booth T7). For more modern tastes you have Nilufar (Booth T1), one of Milan’s prestigious design galleries, presenting Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti’s exquisite Bureau Rodeo Desk and Armchair. R 20th Century from New York features Brazilian designers Sergio Rodrigues and Joaquim Tenreiro — considered the father of modern Brazilian furniture. It should be interesting to see French designer Maria Pergay’s pieces in stainless steel at Demisch Danant from New York (Booth T5), specializing in 1960s-1970s French design. Don’t miss her idiosyncratic Drape Cabinet (a folding slice of metal peeling off the cabinet) and her massive Stainless Steel Desk. Or little gems, like Serge Mouille’s Saturn Lamp in lacquered aluminum (circa 1958) at Galerie Downtown-François Laffanour (Booth C5).
Contemporary Chinese design? Visit Shanghai’s Contrasts Gallery (Booth C4) for Shao Fan’s striking Work No. 1 of 2006. Fan’s so-called “deconstructed chairs” have caused a stir all over (his Project No. 1 of 2004 is out of Derrida’s best prose). Another eye-grabber is Wendell Castle’s leggy Crescent Rocker (yours for about $45,000 and some change). Designer’s Gallery’s Gabrielle Ammann from Cologne (Booth C2) has the whimsical Flower Offering Chair by Satyendra Pakhalé, a promising young Hindu designer with an atelier in Amsterdam, while Galerie Patrick Seguin from Paris (both T3) shows Jean Prouve’s Trapèze, a majestic steel-and-wood table, which made a cameo appearance in Jacques Tati’s Playtime.
The fair will host two talks: On Friday at 6 p.m., “Blurred Boundaries: Design as Business” is moderated by Libby Sellers of the London Design Museum. This talk includes acclaimed designer Marcel Wanders, along with Louise-Anne Comeau and Geoffrey Monge, founders of “atelier idée (whose clients include Gucci, Coca-Cola, Target and Virgin, among others). On Sunday at 2 p.m., “Blurred Boundaries: Design as Culture,” moderated by Barbara Bloemink of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, will feature Zaha Hadid, Tom Dixon and Michele Oka Doner. In addition, Miami Design has expanded its Satellite Exhibition program. This year’s highlights include French Modern Sources presented by Georges Pompidou Art & Culture Foundation; Live! From Our Studios presented by Moss Gallery New York; Smart Deco presented by Barry Friedman Ltd. and Droog Design; and Artectonics: New Age Creativity presented by Contrasts Gallery of Shanghai.
For more information call 305-572-0866 or visit www.designmiami.com.
Comments? E-mail letters@miamisunpost.com. |
