It has to be said: there is nothing like visiting Miami in December. Good weather and sandy beaches aside, our annual trip to the Floridian coast was all in the name of design and art, of course. In the last few years, the moneyed town has used its natural assets to attract the art, design, fashion and nightlife world's most illustrious characters, thus helping to secure Design Miami's place on the fair circuit.
Under the direction of Marianne Goebel for the second time, this year's fair was no slouch. As well as hosting an impressive selection of design galleries, both from home and abroad, Design Miami also presented three impressive projects from luxury industry bigwigs, Fendi, Perrier-Jouët and Swarovski.
All long-time advocates of cross-industry collaboration, the brands' efforts were particularly engaging due to the design talent they enlisted. With Design Miami taking on the role of instigator, Fendi added the next chapter to its ongoing Design Performances series by teaming up with Belgian designer Maarten de Ceulaer. Best known for his whimsical cabinets which at first look like a pile of colourful suitcases, de Ceulaer chose to reinterpret the fashion house's iconic Pequin motif in a three-dimensional way, creating an eye-catching landscape out of leather pieces in classic Fendi colours.
Perrier-Jouët, the new tipple of choice at Design Miami and Art Basel, also took advice from Goebel and her team before selecting the London-based Studio Glithero to create their mesmerising 'Lost Time' installation.
Swarovski Crystal Palace, the experimental design arm of the Austrian crystal makers, chose to back another Brit, Asif Khan, who's dexterity at architecture, furniture and industrial design had him perfectly placed to produce 'Parhelia', an interactive 20 ft structure encrusted with 1.3 million glittering crystals, which emulated an ice halo right on the tropical shores of Miami. Using a single LED as a light source, as well as harnessing the changing light conditions in the gallery space throughout the day, Khan created an inspired exploration of light and design.
Elsewhere within the fair, we were seduced by the combination of new and iconic collectible design on display. The French galleries did particularly well; Demisch Danant staged a wonderful tribute to Pierre Guariche, while Galerie Patrick Seguin's collection of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret was well-matched with an equally beautiful stand.
Cleverly positioned adjacent to Art Basel in the heart of South Beach, Design Miami was just the springboard for our week of perusing the emerging talent at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance), enjoying the stellar program of talks by the likes of artist James Rosenquist (creator of the iconic Illy logo, which, 'along with the Mona Lisa, is one of the most reproduced paintings in the world', said Illy art director Carlo Bach), wandering the graffiti-lined streets of Wynwood, and exploring the Miami Design District - where Dior Homme and Louis Vuitton both got in on the art action. Not to mention heading out on festivity-filled nights that often led us to Andre Saraiva's pop-up club, Silencio, at The Delano. Once again, all in the name of art and design.
Containing almost 1.3 million Swarovski crystals, the inviting structure mimics a halo, a natural phenomenon created by light reflecting off ice crystals
Khan’s design also features an elliptical skylight, which cleverly incorporates Miami’s unique natural light – an element that particularly impressed the locals
Fendi added the next chapter to its ongoing Design Performances series by teaming up with Belgian designer Maarten de Ceulaer. Pictured are some of the works in his installation
The Design Performance in action. Best known for his whimsical cabinets which at first look like a pile of colourful suitcases, de Ceulaer chose to reinterpret the fashion house's iconic Pequin motif in a three-dimensional way, creating an eye-catching landscape out of leather
Intertwined lampposts by Pieke Bergmans, spotted on the Venice Projects' stand
'Float', a cast marble coffee table, by Snarkitecture for Volumes Gallery
Break', a lacquered wood and cast silicone cabinet, also by Snarkitecture
Galerie Kreo showed a collection called Cellae by François Bauchet, comprising nine pieces of furniture made from a clear-coloured felt that has been regularly punctured and soaked in a polymer-tinted resin
Detail view of the table, showing its modular construction
A shelving unit from the Cellae collection
Throughout the collection, Bauchet plays with angles, positioning the partitions of the modules in a slightly slanted manner
The Snarkitecture-designed entrance pavilion to Design Miami
Entitled 'Drift', the pavilion was made from inflated tubes
The Miami Design District also served up a rich mix of installations, exhibitions and more during the fair. Here, visitors had the chance to see Kenya Hara’s Architecture for Dogs project in the flesh. Sou Fujimoto’s ‘No dog, No Life!’ says it all
Designer graffiti on the Louis Vuitton store facade
A selection of monochrome products at Luminaire, which continues to be one of our favourite pitstops in the Miami Design District
Morgans Hotel Group and Van Wagner Communications emblazoned the sky with slogans by 15 art world heavyweights during Design Miami and Art Basel Miami Beach. This particular declaration came courtesy of John Baldessari
Baldessari also lent his artistry to a series of beach towels at The Standard Spa, Miami Beach
Fabrica presented its new Tutti Frutti collection of glassware at Benetton's freshly opened store during the fair. Conceived under the direction of Sam Baron, the glass fruit holders capture the fun-loving, tropical spirit of the city
'Top Cherry' is a fruit stand by Giorgia Zanellato, inspired by Miami's Art Deco architecture
'Guglielmo!' by Daniela Mesina captures the legend of William Tell
Fabrica was also responsible for the colourful, graphic interior of the store
The store's walls feature tropical palm leaves, painted by Mariana Fernandes
Meridiani's brand new US showroom in the heart of Wynwood
Graffiti in Wynwood - part of the Wynwood Walls project
More designer graffiti on NW 2nd Ave
‘Physichromie’ by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz Diez caught our eye at Art Basel
San Franciscan gallery Ratio 3 exhibited this untitled glitter and concrete piece by Mitzi Pederson
A sculpture by Raphael Zarka at New York's Martos Gallery
‘Working Models’, 1955, by José de Rivera
A new direction for Chinese artist and Wallpaper* favourite, Li Wei
A work by James Rosenquist, who also gave a talk during Art Basel at a brunch hosted by Illy. The artist was the creative brains behind the coffee maker's iconic logo
Meticulous colour-coding on Ocean Drive
Back at Design Miami, the showstopping stand of Galerie Patrick Seguin offered up pieces by Le Corbusier, designed during his Chandigarh period, and Pierre Jeanneret
Belgian gallerist Caroline Van Hook presented several eclectic works during Design Miami, including these 'Quartz Mirrors' by Study O Portable
Furniture made from shredded paper by Jens Praet at Design Miami
Stools from the Enamelled Skin Copper series by Kwangho Lee
Hailing from Korea, Lee uses traditional enamelled techniques to treat welded copper pieces, like this console, at various temperatures
An elaborate necklace by Delfina Delettrez
Among the many gems presented by Didier Ltd, an original necklace by Meret Oppenheim
An amorphous chair from Maarten de Ceulaer's new 'Mutation' series
Parisian gallerist Francois Laffanour showed a collection of iconic pieces, such as this sofa by Jean Prouvé
A bookcase by Jean Prouvé, also part of Francois Laffanour's Galerie Downtown collection
Demische Danant gallery put on an impressive ode to mid-century designer Pierre Guariche. The rare works included this record table and counterbalanced floor lamp from 1958-62
An armchair and wall lamp, also by Pierre Guariche
Mathieu Matégot's 'Fauteuil Férotin' chair and 'Perfo Lux' standing lamp, shown by Jousse Enterprise
A side table by Mathieu Matégot, shown by Jousse Enterprise
Gallery Seomi from Korea presented a collection of ergonomic works, including this steel and wood console by Kim Sanghoon
A pair of 'Undulating Armrest' chairs by Brazilian designer, Joaquim Tenreiro, 1948, from R20th Century gallery
Acetate mirrors by Jean Baptiste Fastrez, shown by Galerie Kreo
An original façade by Jean Prouvé that he designed for schools in Cameroon in 1964
A rare vessel by Ettore Sottsass, presented by Galleria Colombari, Milan
Sketches by Gio Ponti
Nilufar showed a horizontal rendition of Maarten de Ceulaer's recognisable pile of suitcases
At the New Art Dealers Alliance fair, Cologne's Desaga gallery showed works by Nathalie du Pasquier
A painting by Nathalie du Pasquier
A sculpture by Julia Pfeiffer
A detail from Devon Dikeou's 'Not Quite Mrs. De Menil's Liquor Closet' installation at NADA
The walk-in installation was inspired by the liquor closet of art patron Dominique de Menil, who had art pieces mixed in with her glassware and booze
'Untitled (newspaper painting)' by Sadie Benning at Callicoon Gallery
Also at Callicoon Gallery was a series of 'syndrome paintings' by James Hoff
A creation from Noam Rappaport, on view at James Fuentes gallery
A work from Olivia Plender, presented by Crystal, Stockholm
Match VIII' by Miriam Bohm
Rodriguez also created this geometric mobile sculpture, with just a measuring tape
A new piece by Guadalajaran artist Javier Rodriguez in Curro & Poncho's booth space
'Mutual Guides' 2012, by Matthew Stone, from The Hole gallery
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