Architecture
Design Miami 2012 Highlights
The eighth edition of Design Miami/ saw record attendance and robust sales throughout its six-day run in Miami, Florida from December 4-9, 2012. Thirty-six of the world’s leading galleries presented contemporary and historic design, which sold well among the 31,000 design collectors and enthusiasts who attended the fair.
Visitors to Design Miami/ were welcomed by Drift, a pavilion created by New York-based collaborative studio Snarkitecture. A floating environment comprised of massive inflatable tubes, Drift resembles a topographical landscape in suspension: an ascending mountain above and an excavated cavern below. The lightness of the floating tubes underscores the mass of the enormous installation, visible from a distance of several blocks. The cascading cylinders of Drift lift to create paths of circulation around hanging stalactite forms, providing visitors with a meandering gateway to the fair. Apertures in the canopy above frame views of the Miami sky and allow sunlight into the shaded pavilion. Filtered light passes between the tubes of the excavated cavern, creating a space at the confluence of interaction, conversation and contemplation.
RO/LU at Mondo Cane
AMERICAN MADE
2012 has seen an increasing amount of American design activity. Design Miami/ 2012 is one of the sites where galleries and designers are focusing specifically on the American perspective, both historical and contemporary. Galleries at the fair included: Moderne Gallery located in Philadelphia and recognized for its works from the American Craft and Studio Movement; R20th Century is presenting historic work by the esteemed Wendell Castle; Mark McDonald showcased Eames cabinets and chairs; Volume Gallery showed a set of benches and shelves by Snarkitecture. Mondo Cane is showing a series of steeply-angled chairs and shelves by RO/LU studio, works which may appear in progress, yet have reached a refined destination. Hallmarks of a distinctly American aesthetic – wood grain and bright, primary colors – run through the work.
