Design Miami/ is always a stunning collection of modern and contemporary design under one roof, but can be a bit overwhelming without knowing where to look. I led tours of the fair (the Museum’s second tour collaboration with DM/) to provide insight into this year’s highlights, connecting the works on view and illuminating themes. Honestly,...

It is easy to miss the highlights when you don’t know where to look. At Design Miami/ 2012, there were many, and the guided tours I led sought to help visitors navigate the fair by taking a deep dive into the content, illuminating themes and historical continuity in the contemporary work. What follow are five...

Tour Eiffel Lamp. Designed by Studio Job, 2012. Carpenters Workshop Gallery. (Image from http://art.sy/artwork/studio-job-tour-eiffel-lamp.) The work of Dutch design firm Studio Job is at once humorous, witty, and ironic, heavy on ornament and always well-crafted. Without fail, I am intrigued to see what they come up with next as an expression of contemporary decorative arts. At...

Biccio fillet, part of the Faked Meat series by Marije Vogelzang on view at the Food Culture exhibition. Design and food continues to be an area of design practice garnering attention as it pushes at the boundaries of what we think of as traditional design. (Full discloser, I am organizing an exhibition on the subject.) Case...

Float. Designed by Snarkitecture, 2012. Volume Gallery. As a curator focused on contemporary design, one of the things I seek out is trends. At this year’s Design Miami/, opening December 5th, one of many trends I’m already spotting is the unexpected. Designers are challenging our eye, whether through their material choices, forms, or program, confounding...

Design Watch Members from across the nation met in Miami for a memorable week of design. The seventh edition of Design Miami/ featured the world’s leading galleries specializing in 20th and 21st century collectible design. This year’s expanded fair included 28 galleries. Among them, Cristina Grajales Gallery, Galerie Maria Wettergren, Moss, Mark McDonald, Venice Projects,...

Design Watch Members from across the nation – Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, New York, and Miami – gathered for an action-packed week of design in Miami.   Joined by Cooper-Hewitt’s Caroline Baumann, Associate Director, and Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Director, we explored the Design Miami/, Art Basel Miami Beach, and surrounding fairs; made new...

Herzog & de Meuron's 1111 Lincoln Road parking garage—wonderful mix of cast-in-place concrete slabs and luxury shopping: Josh Owen's menorah caught my eye in Bobby Berke's shop—it's solid, simple and ceremonial, with an integrated tray to catch all the wax! Lisa Roberts, Cooper-Hewitt Board of Trustees member and I had an exciting time experiencing our...

Another day with Design Watch Members in Miami…. First stop: 1111 Lincoln Road with architect Nils Sanderson from Swiss architects’ Herzog & de Mueron’s office. Nils started the tour in front of this just completed parking garage (but this is no ordinary parking garage) that anchors the western end of the pedestrian Lincoln Road. Starting...

  First stop: Moorhead & Moorhead’s Design Miami/ tent exterior. The Cooper-Hewitt group was greeted by brothers, Robert (industrial designer) and Granger (architect), to talk about the dynamic canopied entrance to the design show – a bris soleil of hand cut, twisted vinyl strips that perform a dance of shadows on the ground. Taking a...

Design Watch Members recently explored the international design and contemporary art scene in Miami, including exclusive private collection visits and special events with design luminaries. Inside Design Miami/ Stops included: Cristina Grajales, Droog, Moss, R20th Century, and Gallery R’Pure/François Azambourg Exploring the Design District at Dacra and the new de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art...

2010 was a year to remember for Cooper-Hewitt Members. Check out the 10 Membership Moments in 2010 slideshow below. Around town, Cooper-Hewitt Members were among the first to access fairs—from historic to contemporary design—New York Auto Show, ICFF, International Fine Art & Antiques Dealers Show, and IFPDA Print Fair. Throughout the year, Members took a...

Cooper-Hewitt Design Watch Members travelled to Miami—the hottest design destination. Now in its fourth year, Design Miami is the global forum for collecting, exhibiting, and discussing limited edition design. Cooper-Hewitt’s group visited the world’s leading design galleries in the Design Miami/ Temporary Structure, designed by award winning young architectural practice Aranda/Lasch. This year’s Designer of...

Brazilian designers Humberto and Fernando Campana will receive the prestigious Designer of the Year Award at this year’s Design Miami. Earlier this year, the brothers mined the museum’s collection and chose a diverse group of more than thirty objects, dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries for the Campana Brothers Select: Works from the...

In a very special presentation, Cooper-Hewitt will host GlassLab, an innovative program of The Corning Museum of Glass that pairs its master glassmakers with some of the most creative minds working in design today.   GlassLab at Design Miami 2007 Participating designers at Cooper-Hewitt include: Harry Allen Constantin and Laurene Boym Francisco Costa/Calvin Klein Michele...