Highlights from the sixth annual edition of Collective Design

In “a nod to the trend of cross-fertilization between artists, art, and design,” the Collective Design fair ran March 9-11, two months earlier than its usual May date, to coincide with Armory Week in New York, remarked Steven Learner, the Collective’s forward-thinking founder and creative director. “With the potential of increased attendance, we moved into a larger space at the Skylight Clarkson North, which also accommodated galleries presenting experiential installations.”

Here are the installations and objects that caught our eye:

Johanna Grawunder

Johanna Grawunder Booth at Collective Design Fair. Courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Object Permanence, an installation by Johanna Grawunder, Milan-based Modernist designer and architect, and the Collective Influencer Honoree, showcased lighting and furniture from limited edition collections. Her latest work, Gioster, inspired in part by Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion, is a small gem in colored Plexiglas and stainless steel illuminated by white LED. Grawunder is represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Objects of Common Interest/LOT Partners for Architecture

Objects of Common Interest/LOT Partners for Architecture. VIP lounge at Collective Design Fair. Courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

The husband-and-wife team of Leonidas Trampoukis and Eleni Petaloti, founders and principals of architectural practice LOT, designed the light-filled VIP lounge. It featured seating arrangements in classical geometric blocks of custom glass, topped with colorful laminates scattered on earth-toned hard slabs. A white mesh curtain cordoned off the lounge, adding an ambience of transparency and stillness.

Azadeh Shladovsky Studio

Azadeh Shladovsky Studio. Photo by Clemens Kois.

The Los Angeles-based designer’s Qualia is a collection of mirrors and jewel-toned chairs in the shapes of Braille letters that explores touch in visual processing; the pieces surround “The Eye,” a circular Italian marble table whose top is embossed with a poem, the artist’s paean to her deceased daughter.

Peter Lane

Peter Lane’s work at the Collective Design Fair. Photography courtesy of Jeff Klapperich.

Astrolabe, a wall-hung ceramic sculpture, 10 feet tall and 16 feet wide, integrates a convex mirror, a striking focal point for the refined interior. Above the solid oak turquoise cabinet (the only dash of color) are sketches of the ceramist’s monumental sculptural walls, including as his recent work, a backdrop to the Hotel Crillion’s residential-style pool in Paris.

Henry Nuriev

Harry Nuriev. Photo by Clemens Kois.

A powder-coated stainless-steel, neon purple dining table with revolving seats, the design of Brooklyn-based designer and architect, and founder of Crosby Studios Henry Nuriev, is reminiscent of a playground carousel. It stands in stark contrast to the printed images lining the walls of a Brutalist, Soviet-style housing complex, a reminder of the designer’s early childhood.

Sam Stewart

Fort Gavensvoort. Photo by Clemens Kois.

The Rep Range designs are absurd caricatures of gym equipment-twisted and curved dumbbells and barbells. Represented by Fort Gansevoort gallery, Stewart is a first-time fair participant.