STYLE 1 MEDIA >>> DESIGN MIAMI/ 2012
Design Miami/ 2012
Meridian Avenue & 19th Street, Miami Beach, FL | 12.04 - 09.2012 | by Merry Esparza
The eighth edition of Design Miami/, held from December 4-9, 2012 in South Beach, welcomed 31,000 design collectors,
enthusiasts, and museum representatives to its pavilion located next to the Miami Beach Convention Center. The show,
which ran concurrent to Art Basel Miami Beach, presented 36 galleries this year, a 25% increase over last year's number of exhibitors.
The caliber of the fair's exhibitors, its site-specific design collaborations, its program of talks and tours, and its
cross-disciplinary approach to design at the intersection of culture and commerce contribute to its status as a
global forum for design. The pavilion's entrance concept, "Drift" (left), designed by
New York-based studio, Snarkitecture, consisted of a floating environment made of huge inflatable tubes.
Site specific design installations at the pavilion included Audi's "R18 Ultra Chair" designed by
Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram; "Parhelia," designed by Asif Khan
for Swarovski Crystal Palace; Fendi's "Transformations" design performance by Maarten de Ceulaer;
and Perrier-Jouët's installation "Lost Time" by Glithero.
Design Miami/'s 2012 Designer of the Year award and commission went to Brooklyn-based Acconci Studio.
The Studio will produce a permanent climbing/playing structure to be installed in the Miami Design District by 2014. The plans were unveiled at
Acconci Studio's Design District exhibition during the week.
Design Talks presented the Design Pioneers series, featuring
Diane von Furstenberg in conversation with Stefano Tonchi;
Vito Acconci in conversation with Mitchell Joachim; and
Wendell Castle in conversation with Alasdair Gordon.
The BE OPEN Forum profiled designers practicing outside the boundaries of traditional product design,
including Art.sy Founder Carter Cleveland; 12.29 Founder Dawn Goldworm;
designers Zigelbaum+Coelho; interaction designer Tuur van Balen; and eating designer
Marije Vogelzang. Plenty of food for thought!
Other show attractions included tours and a bookshop by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum;
12.29's bespoke fragrance; Regalia's Collectors Lounge designed by Cassina; and
Michael's Genuine Food and Drink Pop-Up Café.
Notable visitors included Calvin Klein, Peter Brant, Delfina Delettrez Fendi, Pharrell Williams, Wendi Murdoch, Will Farrell,
Todd Eberle, Kanye West, Silvia Fendi, Donna Karan, Terry Richardson, Joseph Altuzarra, Ricardo Tisci, Wendell Castle, Martha Stewart, David Adjaye, and
Juan Montoya.
Design Miami/ Basel 2013 will take place in Basel Switzerland from June 11-16, 2013 and the show will return to Miami Beach from December 4-8, 2013.
For more information, please visit: Design Miami.
