At this year’s Design Miami, Porky Hefer plans to give us all a science lesson. Taking his playful vision to a microscopic level, the designer will craft inhabitable sculptures in the form of molecular structures for Southern Guild gallery, using bright leathers corresponding to atomic colour codes.
While known for his fantastical, animalistic creations, this new collection has seen the Cape Town based designer create giant, spherical seating pods made up of differently hued sections, each representing a different element. For example, in his ‘Water’ pod, two white atoms of hydrogen and one red atom of oxygen have been brought together to form a cosy fur-lined nook.
Coincidently, Hefer’s ode to H2O also fits in with the theme for 2019, set by Design Miami’s curatorial director Aric Chen. Named Elements: Water, it’s a continuation of his Basel offering, Elements: Earth, in which he curated a range of projects that investigated the future of materials, resources and making.
In Circulation Bus Stop Benches, by Rooms Studio, 2019. Courtesy, Rooms Studio
Elsewhere in the fair, Georgian design studio Rooms will be encouraging visitors to return to their rebellious school days by asking them to deface one of its wooden benches, while Melbourne gallery Broached Commissions joins the line-up for the first time – taking a slightly different approach, it will be showing a collection of Victorian antiques that have been contemporised and brought back to life.
The Grid Within by Broached Commissions, 2019. Courtesy, Broached Commissions
INFORMATION
Design Miami is on view 3-8 December
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the design year got underway with Paris’ interiors and furniture fair. Elsewhere, the Wallpaper* editors marked the start of 2026 with good food and better music
-
Structure meets scent in Clive Christian’s new London flagship by Harry NurievWhat does architecture smell like? The British perfume house’s Inox fragrance captures the essence of its new Bond Street store
-
A quartet of sleek new travel trailers accelerate the caravan’s cultural rehabilitationAirstream, Evotrex, AC Future and Honda put forward their visions for off-grid living and lightweight RV design
-
Everything you need to know about Design Miami 2025The collectible design fair returns to Miami Beach in December for its 21st edition, alongside a vast array of art and cultural events across the city
-
Basic.Space launches its first IRL shopping event – in an empty West Hollywood mallWith the launch of its first in-person event in LA this weekend, the e-commerce platform is looking to bring collectible design to a whole new audience
-
Design Miami 2024 is alive with possibility: here are 14 things to seeDesign Miami 2024 opens 4-8 December – let Wallpaper* guide you to the highlights, from dazzling installations to plump sofas and anthropomorphic sculptures
-
Design Miami 2022: highlights from the fair and around townDesign Miami 2022 (30 November – 4 December) aims at ‘rebooting the roots of our relationship with nature and collective structures, ecospheres, and urban contexts’
-
Nendo’s collaborations with Kyoto artisans go on view in New York‘Nendo sees Kyoto’ is on view at Friedman Benda (until 15 October 2022), showcasing the design studio's collaboration with six artisans specialised in ancient Japanese crafts
-
Italian craftsmanship comes to Los Angeles in this eclectic Venice Canals apartmentBoffi Los Angeles celebrates a juxtaposition of texture throughout a waterside bolthole
-
Design Miami/Basel 2022 explores the Golden AgeDesign Miami/Basel 2022, led by curatorial director Maria Cristina Didero, offers a positive spin after the unprecedented times of the pandemic, and looks at the history and spirit of design
-
Kvadrat’s flagship New York showrooms encompass colourful design codesIndustrial designer Jonathan Olivares and architect Vincent Van Duysen have worked with Danish textile brand Kvadrat on the vast new space, also featuring furniture by Moroso
