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The Best of 2019 Design Miami/

It’s always difficult to narrow down the best work at Design Miami/, but this year was especially hard. Located in Miami Beach, the curated design fair filled up a massive tent adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center where Art Basel was held. Global galleries and various brands present work from both emerging and established designers for collectors, curators, gallerists, and consumers to peruse and be inspired by. Keep reading to see some of the highlights that made Design Miami/ 2019 a must-see.

12.12.19 | By
The Best of 2019 Design Miami/

Upon entering Design Miami/, a grouping of Instagram-worthy Pink Beasts, by artist Fernando Laposse in collaboration with fiber artist Angela Damman, hung to welcome visitors.

Tokyo-based TAKT PROJECT not only brought their finished ‘glow ⇄ grow’ pottery pieces, they displayed the machine that makes them, allowing visitors to watch as clear resin dripped down onto the form and then hardened when hit with the programmed LED. The result looks like frozen icicles.

The Sarah Myerscough Gallery presented Marcin Rusak’s White Perma Collection featuring sculptural forms made from resin embedded with flowers.

The Todd Merrill Studio booth included lots of intriguing pieces, including the always favorite, labor-intensive work of Brecht Wright Gander, who creates cartoonish, other-worldly, creature-like lights (above and below) that I wanted to take home.

Love the cozy R & Company exhibit of Rogan Gregory’s sculpted pieces that look as if they were carved out of stone.

Also at R & Company were new objects and lighting by Jeff Zimmerman, made in collaboration with James Mongrain. The sculptural globes were made by melding an age-old Venetian technique with Zimmerman’s glassblowing.

Crosby Studios’s Harry Nuriev collaborated with Balenciaga to create a clear vinyl sofa stuffed with discarded Balenciaga clothes making a statement about waste that happens in the fashion industry.

The Future Perfect displayed an entire booth worth mentioning, including playful wicker chairs by Chris Wolston and balloon formed stools by Seungjin Yang.

The Future Perfect also featured cool ceramic planters and stools by Floris Wubben.

Harry Allen Design displayed Portrait Vessels that are made from images captured by structured light scanning that are used to then 3D print the busts out of ceramic.

Louis Vuitton was back with an expanded collection of Object Nomades, including this flower-like chair (above) by the Campana Brothers and the foursome of modular chairs (below) by Raw Edges.

Daniel Arsham presented an installation (above and below) with Friedman Benda that showed a combination of upholstered and resin pieces he has made for his home office and his Queens studio over the years.

Friedman Benda also shared an eclectic mix of work, like the Custard Ma Ma lounge (left) and Pink Hot Solar Buzzers lights (right) by Jonathan Trayte.

Calico Wallpaper launched a new bespoke wallpaper based off of this booth collaboration with Swarovski, which celebrates the company’s commitment to sustainability.

Functional Art Gallery brought a group show of chairs, including this OrtaMiklos surrealist chair inspired by “the disappearing beauty of the sea.”

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.