2017 DesignMiami/ Basel: Gallery ALL booth – Photo by James Harris.

Design collectibles showed off at 2017 DesignMiami/Basel. Archipanic reports some of the best exhibitions at the Swiss design fair: from Studio Job limited editions for Gufram to MAD Architects’ furniture debut and Swarovski prismatic tech-designs.

Swarovski “Designers of the Future”

Photo by Mark Cocksedge.

Swarovski invited three emerging designers to apply cutting edge technologies to crystal. Jimenez Lai recycled rejected Swarovski crystal to create a set of terrazzo tiles manufactured in Italy. Japanese studio TAKT Project teamed with Tel Aviv based company Micron3DP, to create vases and candleholders made from 3D-printed crystal. Dutch designer Marjan van Aubel integrated a solar panel within a crystal enhancing its ability to capture energy from the sun.

Gallery ALL

MAD Martian Console Table – courtesy of Gallery ALL.

Gallery ALL presented the MAD Martian capsule collection by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects. Inspired by Mars future aesthetics, the architects integrated elements of traditional Chinese landscape design and painting into large-scale urban architecture. The resulting forms are closely tied to elements of the natural environment, conveying both elegant and gnarly lines.

Philippe Gravier

Photo via IG @designmiami .

Parisian gallery Philippe Gravier showcased The Forest of Books installation featuring Sou Fujimoto’s abstract bookshelves made from steel rods. The designs’ silhouette was informed by 19th-century ironwork. The installation aims to evoke the feeling of a trip to a library. “trip, a non-linear journey, in a search of a story, an information, a discovery.” Explained Sou Fujimoto.

Friedman Benda

Photo by Andrew Meredith, courtesy of Friedman Benda.

Friedman Benda paid homage to Ettore Sottsass on his centenary anniversary. The New York based gallery showcased rare furniture, lighting, glass and ceramic designs. Pivotal early and late works offered an overarching view of archetypal forms and materials of the the Memphis school founder’s distinguished projects.

Gufram

SUPERGUFRAM feat Studio Job – Photo by Annik Wetter.

A soft punchy ball and an sting-proof foam cactus. Studio Job teamed with Gufram radical brand to “satisfy the desires of the most demanding collectors”. The new cheeky and ironic polyurethane super-limited collectibles were inspired by Pink Floyd’s Another Brik in the Wall.

Nilufar

Photo via IG @nilufargallery.

Milan-based gallery Nilufar showcased a very rare collection of furnishings designed by BBPR, the 1930s group of Italian architects who designed the Torre Velasca, a contemporary take of medieval towers rising in Milan downtown. On show the furniture of a private apartment in the building on which the architects worked from 1950-51 to 1966.

Mercado Moderno

Photo by James Harris.

Mercado Moderno presented the finest modern and contemporary design from Brazil. The Rio de Janeiro based gallery marked the country’s debut at Design Miami/ Basel.

Giustini/Stagetti Galleria O. Roma

Photo by F. Coddou.

Giustini/Stagetti Galleria O. Roma exhibited a unique and exceptional furniture by Ettore Sottsass, realized in the early 1960s for the so-called “Casa con la bambina cinese”. The tower-furniture was conceived as the main element of a private apartment in Milan “high from the floor to the ceiling and always different on its four faces, with shelves, counters, grates, columns, drawers, and more.” Setting by dekleva gregoric architects.