DESIGN

Our Favorite Pieces at Design Miami/ 2023

Returning with high-concept presentations by an exciting crop of creative talents, the collectible design showcase readies a hopeful eye to the future with thought-provoking pieces united in their optimism and experimentation. Below, our editor rounds up ten of the fair’s most impressive pieces.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery: Grandfather Clock by Maarten Baas

Embodying a Peter Pan–like figure within a to-scale grandfather clock, the Dutch designer taps into childhood creativity through 720 one-of-a-kind drawings by children that indicate the time across a 12-hour duration.


Friedman Benda: Seduction Pair 06 by Najla El Zein

This one-of-a-kind bench carved out of Iranian red travertine forges the appearance two bodies conjoined—the latest biomorphic stone piece that serves as a conduit for the Lebanese designer’s innermost expressions.


Kohler: Formation 01 Faucet by Samuel Ross

Samuel Ross and his studio SR_A recast the bathroom faucet as a sculpture using striking angles, an industrial bold Haptic Orange color, and the Kohler-exclusive material Neolast that allows for a dramatic expression of form.


Les Ateliers Courbet: Balthazar Armoire by Hamza Kadiri

Inspired by classical art and mythological lore, the gifted Moroccan woodworker stuns again with a one-of-a-kind hand-carved ash wood armoire charred using the traditional Japanese Shou-Sugi-Ban technique.


The Future Perfect: Oro Desk Chair and Desk by Chris Wolston

Fine-tuning his craft in Colombia has proved fruitful for the Medellín-based sculptor, who unveils a glimmering desk and accompanying chair whose flowery structural elements reflect his latest material experiments in bronze.


Todd Merrill Studio: Flare Tables by Draga and Aurel

Synthesizing minimalism, Space Age aesthetics, and the mesmerizing patterns of Op-Art, the Lake Como duo reveal a kaleidoscopic collection of lucite tables whose cores seem to be illuminated from the inside.


Charles Burnand Gallery: Time Over Time by Dawn Bendick

Considering the changing properties of materials over changing seasons, Bendick combines materials like dichroic glass and architectural stone to create three monumental columns that hearken back to when intuition relayed the passage of time.


Maison Gerard: In The Eyes Of by Niamh Barry

Fresh off an impressive debut at Salon Art+Design this past month, the experimental Irish metalworker reveals another show-stopping lighting sculpture composed of three illuminated vessel elements made in a brown patina on solid bronze.


Emma Scully Gallery: Chair III (Paper) by Simone Bodmer-Turner

The Brooklyn sculptor continues to perfect graceful, biomorphic shapes after debuting furniture last year—they lend themselves well to this poetic standout in the Upper East Side gallerist’s lounge-themed booth.


Crosby Studios: Tapestry Sofa by Harry Nuriev

The multihyphenate behind Crosby Studios intricately weaves together history and modernity through a classic television recliner whose upholstery—and metal accouterments—are embellished with the pattern of a worn French tapestry.

 

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