Highlights from Design Miami/Basel 2017.

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With Julie Andrews’ ‘The Sound of Music’ firmly entrenched in my mind, I headed off to Basel for my first excursion to the annual Design Miami showcase in Europe. While outside birds sang and flowers bloomed, inside the fair grounds a much more atmospheric world was waiting. Not to say that the summer sun was not appreciated, but sometimes design needs these spot lit worlds to highlight every joint, make those chandeliers shine, and hone ones attention in to the finer things in life. In June every year, Basel is full of them!

I am definitely cut from the more contemporary cloth when it comes to design at the higher end of the spectrum. Victor Hunt, Galerie Kreo and my Copenhagen local Etage Projects were high on my to see list. Max Lamb, Michael Anastassiades and Tomás Alonso. Yes please! What really hit home was how well some of the worlds top design galleries combine their line up of well worn classics; Danish design still abounds while Ettore Sottsass was spotted on more than one occasion, with more contemporary pieces.

The sumptuous ceramic work of Kristina Riska was front at centre at New York Gallery Hostler Burrows.

The picture perfect stand of Galerie Kreo!

With a mixture of sand, pigment and resin, the stunning AZO Table by François Bauchet for Galerie Kreo. Image © Sylvie Chan-Lia, courtesy of Galerie Kreo.

What else do you need when it comes to wall lighting? Sarfatti for Galerie Kreo. Images courtesy of Galerie Kreo.

Galerie Kreo tends to always beautifully meld these two periods of design, largely thanks to owner Didier Krzentowski’s passion for mid century lighting design. One piece that stood out was Gino Sarfatti’s gloriously industrial wall lights, coupled with the stunning contemporary AZO Table by François Bauchet. Kreo was a highlight.

Colour, form, balance. Everything you could ever want from a Michael Anastassiades light.

Jorge Lizarazo’s stunning copper wire rugs for Nilufar Gallery.

Nilufar Gallery from Milan was also a standout. Michael Anastassiades’ Fontana Amorosa lighting series was an obvious way to draw me in, but it was Jorge Lizarazo’s hand woven rugs that got my wow factor going. Each piece is hand woven from different oxidised strands of copper wire in Bogota. The results are truly sublime. Big want!

Maria Bruun and Anne Dorthe-Vester’s Relief cabinet for Gallery Fumi featured a striking steel archway set against stained Douglas pine panels. Photo by Benita Marcussen.

Detail View of Maria Bruun and Anne Dorthe-Vester’s Relief cabinet for Gallery Fumi. Photo by Benita Marcussen.

Carl Emil Jacobsen’s monolithic structures can be seen amongst Chamber’s eclectic mix of pieces.

Ilkka Suppanen’s stunning 3D printed Porcupine light shows a grace rarely seen with the medium.

Some contemporary Scandinavian highlights included Maria Bruun and Anne-Dorthe Vester’s Relief cabinet for Gallery Fumi, Carl Emil Jacobsen’s textured objects seemed to be everywhere, most noticeably with New Yorks Chamber Gallery, and Ilka Suppanen’s 3D printed Porcupine light for Galerie Maria Wettergren. These were just some examples of contemporary design from Northern Europe firmly stepping away from those mid-century icons.

Strong materials and clean lines. What is not to like about Brooksbank and Collins Fonteyn Chair for Gallery Fumi.

Detail view of Brooksbank and Collins Fonteyn Chair for Gallery Fumi.

Victor Hunt had maybe the prettiest stand, featuring heavily the work of Thomas Alonso and Sabine Marcelis.

More highly prized acquisitions for my dream abode included Brooksbank & Collins Fonteyn Chair for Gallery Fumi, and Tomás Alonso‘s rugs coupled with Arnout Meijer‘s mesmerising lighting for Victor Hunt.

Although small in stature, especially alongside the mammoth Art Basel offering, Design Miami / Basel did not disappoint. To see such exquisite craftsmanship, detailing and materials, alongside Europe’s best conceptual designers of today is a real pleasure. The summer sun of Basel is pretty all right too!

Some Dutch playfulness from Arnout Meijer for Victor Hunt.

[Images courtesy of the designers & galleries.]

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