Design Miami is a global design forum that has been held every two years since 2005 and brings together the most influential names of the design world. The 15th Design Miami/Basel exhibition, which was held in Basel, Switzerland, between September 21 – 26 this year, featured museum quality furniture, lighting and decorative objects from the world’s best galleries. It aims to underline that the design, curated by Aric Chen, where the collections of designers and galleries from different countries are exhibited, is not only a commercial dimension, but also an area that should be valued, understood and discussed on a cultural basis. Based on the idea that design products have a collection value just like works of art, this year’s theme of the forum, which is carried out in cooperation with visionary creators, curators, critics, brands and institutions in order to emphasize the importance of design in all areas of life, has been determined as “Human Nature Through the Lens of Design”. In our showcase pages, we have compiled for you the designs featured in Design Miami/Basel 2021 that stand out with the use of natural stone.
AGO Projects
AGO Projects, a design-focused center and designer representation space launched by the partnership of Rudy F. Weissenberg and Rodman Primack, is an organization that supports artists and designers with a high level of social and environmental awareness. “Stone Table” and “Stone Lamp”, which are among the works that draw attention with the use of natural stone in the AGO Projects selection of Design Miami 2021, are designed by Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao. The “Growing with You” collection of the internationally acclaimed designer, with his approach aiming to increase social and political awareness by opening niches for local, cultural and economic development, consists of cylindrical pieces made of natural materials such as marble, copper and lava stone. Stone Table and Stone Lamp are versatile, modular, functional and sculptural objects based on the studio’s basic philosophy of “humanizing” the built environment, adapting to different uses and spaces. Stone Table, which contains the possibilities of a compact and mobile library that offers dynamic spaces, is a furniture that can move, change its layout and even shape, so that it can be configured according to the user. While it looks quite sculptural like an anonymous element when closed, it invites its users to discover books with its mysterious composition like a labyrinth when opened.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Carpenters Workshop Gallery, which produces functional art products by international artists and designers by going beyond the traditional areas of expression, aims to bring special production designs in an emotional, artistic and historical harmony. The Slump Rock coffee table by Paul Cocksedge, the B stool by Aldo Bakker and the dining table by Vincenzo De Cotiis were among the prominent designs with the use of natural stone in the exhibition. Aldo Bakker, who has been in search of the perfect form, material and color since the early stages of his art career and researching the relationship between objects and people, gave life to the stool design named “B” in the exhibition with green onyx stone. Paul Cocksedge, who draws attention with his original, innovative and human-centered designs supported by research on the limits of technology, materials and production processes, sought an answer to the question of how to soften the tension of solid materials such as stone and glass by processing rock stone and glass in a perfect balance on the Slump Rock coffee table. The sculptural dining table of the Italian architect and artist Vincenzo De Cotiis, who blends layered materials and organic geometries with aesthetics in his designs, emphasizes the perfection in the imperfections of marble.
Galerie Scene Ouverte
Advocating the importance of the connection between contemporary creations and crafts, Paris-based design studio Galerie Scene Ouverte features young and well-known artists who create unique furniture and art objects. Advocating the importance of rarity in design, the gallery sets out from simple materials or forms to achieve the extraordinary. “Bubble” and “Osselet” in the exhibition stand out among the designs that gain identity with natural stone. Léa Mestres, who has created designs that defy sculptural boundaries, has characterized her stool series named “Bubble”, which unexpectedly associates color and texture, solidity and softness, with marble material. Chilean designer Abel Cárcamo Segovia, on the other hand, designs furniture and decorative objects identified with handmade, inspired by the combination of styles from different periods. The designer has created a timeless design by establishing a direct connection between traditional practice and minimalist aesthetics in the marble side table series named “Osselet”.
Gallery Japonesque
Gallery Japonesque is a gallery that transforms the unique materials and elements of Japanese nature into delicately crafted aesthetic objects. Furniture and decorative objects signed by world-renowned designers in the exhibition represent an expression of Japanese respect for the pure and natural connection between art and craft. Another name that glorifies natural stone with his design at Design Miami 2021, Masatoshi Izumi is a world-renowned sculptor who frequently plays the leading roles in natural stones such as granite and basalt in his works. Born to a family of stone carvings in Japan, Izumi adapts his experience in stone cutting techniques to new architectural and artistic uses. “Kegarenaki mizu Tsukubai”, the prominent work of Izumi in Gallery Japonesque, is a brutalist water unit that gains its identity with basalt stone.
Noemi Saga Atelier
Brazilian Noemi Saga Atelier pursues emotional connection beyond aesthetics and function. Inspired by research on art, history, trends and cultural expressions, the workshop combines new materials and technologies with traditional techniques to produce artistic furniture. “Sucuri Snake”, one of the most striking designs in the exhibition, is shaped with an emerald green quartzite stone called Botanic Green, produced in a quarry in Bahia, Brazil. The design is an enlargement of a collection of wooden sculptures that previously represented Brazilian animals, resized with natural stone, preserving the minimalist features. The modules, “Sucuri Snake”, built at different heights, invite the audience to interact with its moving form.
