Design Miami 2024
Design Miami makes its spectacular return to South Beach for its highly anticipated 20th edition, showcasing an impressive array of the finest in art, innovative design, and exceptional craftsmanship from around the globe.
As 2024 nears its end, another successful iteration of Design Miami comes to a close, marking its significant 20th edition. What began as a small gathering in 2005 during Art Basel Miami Beach has transformed into a prominent global fair, holding annual editions in Miami, Basel, Paris, and, this year, Los Angeles for the first time. As an essential event for design enthusiasts, the show is set against the stunning backdrop of Miami’s South Beach, showcasing exceptional art and design from some of the world's most gifted creators, designers, and galleries. Below, discover just a few highlights from the exhibition.
Gallery FUMI
Founded in 2008 by Sam Pratt and Valerio Capo, the gallery emphasizes high-caliber designers and artists known for their conceptually and aesthetically bold work; each reflects a commitment to craftsmanship, traditional methods, and modern technologies. The objects are typically handcrafted by the designer in small workshops, often employing techniques such as carving, glassblowing, cabinetry, lacquering, and precise hand assembly.
This year’s exhibition showcased a tribute to artisanal craftsmanship, drawing inspiration from visual motifs steeped in ancestral traditions and cultural heritage. With striking patterns and lively colors, the presentation promotes experimental material use and innovative design, providing a fresh take on enduring traditions.
Charles Burnand Gallery
Founded by Simon Stewart, Charles Burnand Gallery has gained international acclaim for representing both established and emerging designers and artists. Nestled in London's Fitzrovia Design District, the gallery attracts a global clientele in search of unique, limited-edition collectible designs and studio artworks from a wide array of talent. It celebrates exceptional craftsmanship while prioritizing sustainable materials and production methods.
This year’s exhibition, "Haptic Horizons," investigates the future of materials, their innovative applications, and the lasting significance of the artist’s touch in shaping our tactile experiences. It features the groundbreaking works of DEGLAN, Kyeok Kim, Jan Waterston, Yanxiong Lin, Heechan Kim, Dawn Bendick, Studio Furthermore, Ian Milnes, Mia Jung, and Jean-Gabriel Neukomm, offering insights into the changing dynamics between materiality and craftsmanship in modern design.
1882 LTD
1882 Ltd. is a ceramics brand rooted in design, hailing from Stoke-on-Trent, England, established by the fourth and fifth generations of the Johnson Brothers family. Central to the brand is a commitment to progressive design and industrial craftsmanship. They create both essential items and unique pieces that celebrate the rich heritage of craft skills and knowledge within the British ceramics industry, particularly in Stoke-on-Trent.
This year, the brand unveiled ‘Imaginarium,’ its latest collection. It features handcrafted one-of-a-kind or limited-edition works from leading British creatives, including Bafta and Oscar-winning art director & set designer Shona Heath, musician Robbie Williams, furniture designer Max Lamb, ceramic artists Amy Jayne Hughes and Leah Jensen, fashion designer Giles Deacon, and Scottish artist Bruce McLean. Each piece reflects a sense of curiosity and playfulness in form, pattern, color, and texture, captivating and engaging viewers.
Mathieu Lehanneur
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur introduces the 2024 Design Miami Curatorial Project, inviting visitors to experience Flowers Season, an immersive installation featuring a flowing array of handmade ceramic flowers suspended in the air. He also presents a new range of functional collectibles, including a dresser, floor lamp, and cabinet, which combine solid forms with an impression of fluidity. Through this work, Lehanneur inspires poetic thoughts, infusing nature, beauty, and reflections into the vibrant setting of Miami’s art week.
Nick Thomm
Nick Thomm is an Australian artist living and working in Los Angeles, renowned for his large-scale, hyper-colour spectral paintings and immersive projection installations. Through his work, Thomm explores modern colour systems, abstract image construction, and the merging of traditional art with technology, resulting in a hypnotic combination of form and colour. Thomm's paintings have been exhibited at prominent international museums and galleries, including the ‘New Museum’ in New York, the ‘Moco Museum' in Barcelona, and ‘The National Gallery of Victoria’ in Melbourne. His solo exhibition at Design Miami offers just a glimpse of what can be achieved with a range of his collection.
Roham Shamekh: Pharells Echoes
Dubai-based designer Roham Shamekh unveiled his latest collection, titled ‘Pharrell’s Echoes’. This highly personal collection honors the power of manifestation, the creative capacity of human thought, and the deep connections we share. Through this journey, Roham encourages viewers to consider how we silently influence one another, acting as guardian angels in each other’s lives and molding reality through our thoughts and actions. Drawing inspiration from key moments in his life, Pharrell’s Echoes reflects real-life experiences, highlighting themes of intelligent manifestation and hope, which Roham aims to pass on to younger generations. The collection is named after Pharrell Williams, who significantly impacted Roham’s life at a crucial juncture—unwittingly becoming a guardian angel who helped redirect his path. For Roham, Pharrell exemplifies the core principle celebrated in this collection: that our thoughts and actions, even when unconscious, possess the profound ability to shape reality and influence others in surprising ways.
Sarah Myerscough Gallery
Founded in 1998, Sarah Myerscough Gallery showcases a remarkable array of contemporary craft and design artists, emphasizing material-driven practices with an emphasis on wood and natural elements. The gallery features exceptionally skilled international artist-designer-makers whose work is rooted in traditional craftsmanship yet marked by modern innovation and creativity. Through various crafting techniques, they explore the intricate relationships between history and the future, manual creation and technology, as well as form and function.
During Design Miami, the gallery presented ‘Dreamscape’, highlighting the significance of our nighttime retreats by presenting a curated selection of works focused on bedroom furnishings. Featured pieces include the Ethereal Bed by Marc Fish, a suspended chair from Christopher Kurtz and Dana Banes, and a luxurious rococo-style mirror by Tadeas Podracky.
Anna Karlin
Anna Karlin, a self-taught product designer, finds immense joy in exploring various mediums and aesthetics. She unifies her work through key principles: the beauty in the contrast between nature and the manmade, the blend of the familiar and the innovative, and a ritualistic dedication to craftsmanship and detail. A sculptor at heart, Karlin frequently creates hundreds of iterations of each piece, viewing her creations as usable sculptures. She firmly believes that all design forms should convey a narrative and that each discipline enriches the others, ensuring no area remains uninfluenced.
The Future Perfect
Established by David Alhadeff in 2003, The Future Perfect stands as one of the leading contemporary design galleries globally, recognized for its expansive vision and curatorial direction that features both studio-crafted works and unique, limited edition pieces.
The current exhibit, the largest yet, is a bi-curated space that emphasizes programming aimed at fostering an optimistic perspective on our ever-evolving environment. It aspires to present works that ascend and honor the histories and traditions from which they originate. The realm of contemporary design and the possibilities it holds act as a gravitational force, lifting us toward a pathway shaped by the art we interact with.
One side of the exhibit showcases the remarkable creations of Vikram Goyal, an artist known for his impressive, narrative-driven metalwork made using repoussé techniques to craft images in bronze relief. The opposite side features an exquisite collection from Anina Major, Autumn Casey, Ben & Aja Blanc, Chen Chen & Kai Williams, Chris Wolston, Cody Hoyt, Eric Roinestad, Floris Wubben, Ian Collings, Jane Yang-D’Haene, John Hogan, Karl Zahn, Kristin Victoria Barron, Laurids Gallee, Leena Similu, Lindsey Adelman, MyungJin Kim, Olivia Cognet, Piet Hein Eek, Reinaldo Sanguino, Sophie Lou Jacobsen, and Thompson Street Studio.
FENDI Presents ænigma
The renowned Italian luxury fashion brand FENDI enlisted London-based designer Lewis Kemmenoe to craft an exciting new collection, which they showcased at this year’s fair.
After conducting research that included trips to Rome’s museums and botanical gardens, as well as visits to FENDI’s headquarters at Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana and the FENDI Factory in Tuscany, Kemmenoe conceptualized what he calls the ænigma collection. The name is a nod to both the Latin term for “puzzle” and the English word for “something difficult to understand or explain.”
This collection showcases a unique blend of Kemmenoe’s personal artistic approach and the traditional elegance of the Roman luxury house. It features two chairs, a cabinet, two wall panels, two lamps, a coffee table, three vessels, and the iconic Peekaboo Soft bag. A detailed look at the pieces encourages contemplation of the production techniques employed by Kemmenoe, highlighting a significant duality in materials.
Box joints serve not only as a construction method but also as a natural way to incorporate the FENDI FF motif. A jacket pattern from FENDI’s workshop is transformed into a timber patchwork, characteristic of Lewis’s style. The bark from Rome’s iconic pine trees is cast into brass and aluminum. In his reinterpretation of the Peekaboo bag, Kemmenoe introduces a patchwork of FENDI leathers on the outside with surprising wooden details concealed within.
Nader Gammas
Nader Gammas emerges from a spirit of curiosity and questioning. By disassembling parts and reassembling them, the studio explores original ideas that both honor and challenge conventional design. The fixtures of Nader Gammas are crafted through a dynamic interplay of form and function; elements are added and removed, expanded and contracted, until achieving a harmonious blend of design and technology, rationale and emotion. As a distinctive storyteller, a design begins with a singular point of interest and builds upon it using various concepts and materials; layer by layer, like stacking blocks, there are limitations and creations, innovations and boundaries, which ultimately converge to produce a uniquely layered final product. This year marked the debut of the collection at Design Miami.
Friedman Benda
Friedman Benda showcases distinguished established and emerging designers alongside historically significant estates from five continents and generations. Aiming to broaden the dialogue in design and highlight previously marginalized perspectives, Friedman Benda seeks to identify and promote key narratives that blend contemporary design, craft, architecture, art, and technological research.
The 2024 edition draws inspiration from Mexican architect Javier Senosiain’s philosophy of incorporating organic forms into living spaces. It showcases the first collection of limited-edition furniture designed by Senosiain, which uses organic shapes to challenge the often rigid and linear nature of modern architecture, both formally and conceptually. This installation is complemented by pieces from Formafantasma, Studio Raw Material, nendo, Sangree, Carmen D’Apollonio, Elliott Hundley, Fernando Laposse, Raphael Navot, and Thaddeus Wolfe.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Carpenters Workshop Gallery creates and showcases functional sculptures by both emerging and established international artists who venture beyond their customary forms of expression. The gallery plays an active role in the research and creation of the limited edition pieces that are on display.
This year, the gallery presented a selection of contemporary artists who are at the forefront of art, design, and craftsmanship, highlighting works from Vincenzo De Cotiis, Aki & Arnaud Cooren, Ingrid Donat, DRIFT, Kendell Geers, Steven Haulenbeek, Roger Herman, Pierre Jeanneret, Marcin Rusak, and Yinka Shonibare.
The exhibition at Design Miami showcased a rich variety of styles, materials, and techniques while addressing intricate themes of identity, culture, and history. It illustrated the beauty and innovation inherent in contemporary craftsmanship, reinforcing Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s dedication to blurring the lines between art, sculpture, and design.
