As Design Miami 2023 continues through the weekend, we explore the best design beyond the fair's borders, from temporary and permanent installations across the Miami Design District to the new, must-see disruptive fair in town. Explore our highlights below.
Miami Design District: installations
Multidisciplinary artists and designers left their mark across the Miami Design District, creating moments of wonder and reflection around the area. These include digital artist Andrés Reisinger's first IRL takeover, the distinctive pink draping of his virtual images brought to life over a building in the district (178 NE 39th St).
Everywhere in the district, visitors can pause to discover Lara Bohinc's Utopia series of cork furniture and sculptures. Part of the Design District's annual commission and on view for a year, the installation includes outdoor seating, such as stools and armchairs connecting into sofas, as well as tables and oversized light sculptures (equipped with solar panels). Bohinc also created 900 egg-shaped birdhouses, and an egg-like centrepiece that she imagines as a sculptural refuge for animals and children.
Now a permanent fixture of the Miami Design District is Samuel Ross' ‘Expression.Service.Essence’ project, comprising 12 bench designs that will help shape the ever-evolving neighbourhood. 'It is a forum of experimentation that takes shape as an optimistic, expressive, accessible form,' he told Wallpaper*. 'Channelling and contorting the behaviours of what it is to fundamentally operate as a British sculptor or artist through seating, the public forum and explicit gestures of optimism are at the core of all 12 functional sculptures.'
Also in the district is Gaetano Pesce's 'Again Miami With Multidisciplinary Works', a solo exhibition at MDD (30-40 NE 40th St), a 'time-machine show' exploring Pesce's experimental approach to objects, and featuring both new and archive works.
Design Showrooms: new openings and more
New openings in the Design District this year include Cassina (3901 NE 2nd Ave) and B&B Italia, the latter unveiling its Studio concept with a two-storey, 1,950 sq m space designed by Lissoni & Partners (4141 NE 2nd Ave).
At Molteni&C (4100 NE 2nd Ave), artist Roberto Ruspoli offered guests a live drawing session earlier this week, transforming the showroom's interior with his distinctive, Roman-inspired trait.
Nearby, Minotti (3801 NE 2nd Avenue) presents its latest collaboration with GamFratesi, explored through a conversation with Istituto Marangoni's Thelma Lazo-Flores, dean of Interior Design.
Wynwood: things to see
This week marked the unveiling of Vincent Van Duysen's Gravitas for Mexican stone and surface specialist Arca. The stone furniture is presented in an immersive installation at the company's Wynwood showroom (260 NW 27th St).
New in the area is also a new Ralph Pucci showroom, a new large home for the gallery's eclectic offering (550 NW 28th Street). The gallery features 'Strange Vegetation', a new body of work by Elizabeth Garouste taking over the façade, while inside new collections by India Mahdavi for Ralph Pucci make their debut.
New in the area is also Hoops Tree, a new permanent waterfront installation by artist Cj Hendry (at 1745 Bayshore Drive) created with the support of the city of Miami. A 6m-high palm tree-like structure featuring 20 blue hoops, the sculpture is part nod to popular culture, part elevated, chandelier-like addition to the area. 'This concept is my first foray into a permanent public concept,' says the artist.
'Designing Hoops Tree has been interesting because its scale is enormous and it's so much heavier than I anticipated. The engineering team helped with the specs to make it safe and sturdy. All these components make for a fascinating combination of practicality and creativity. Having an artwork that will live on in a public space indefinitely is a real honour and I am so excited to see it come.'
The Miami debut of Alcova
It is truly a fantastic experience to drive the length of Biscayne Boulevard, dotted with 1950s motels, to reach Alcova, set within the iconic Gold Dust Motel (7700 Biscayne Boulevard). A piece of Miami history, the space was taken over by the Milanese design fair to present emerging designers and brands, from Objects of Common Interest's resin furniture to Jialun Xiong's new lighting designs.
