A highlight of this year’s Art Basel week was a visit to Design Miami. The fair returns to Messe Basel (21 – 26 September 2021) and presents amongst others a large-scale experiential installation, thematic displays and Curio presentations around the curatorial theme—Human Nature. The show is curated by Aric Chen, Artistic Director of Rotterdam’s Het Nieuwe Instituut.

State of The World by Mathieu Lehanneur

State of The World by Mathieu Lehanneur is a freeze frame of all currently living human beings in over 100 countries, depicted in a collection of anodized aluminum sculptures. The population data for the production of these shapes was provided by United Nations.

Objective Gallery

Objective Gallery presents two collections by Chinese artist Chen Furong and Vega Zaishi Wang. The raw bench, table and cupboard are dressed with cashmere goat hair, evoking a sense of “sublimity” and “delicacy”. Gaia, the goddess of earth, inspired this collection of works. The gallery will also participate in Design Miami/ Podium x Shanghai, Design Miami’s very first collectible design event in Asia, taking place November 5-14, 2021.

Maniera Gallery

The Brussels gallery, founded by Kwinten Lavigne and Amaryllis Jacobs in 2014 shows new and existing works by Studio Mumbai, Francesca Torzo, Bernard Dubois & Isaac Reina, Lukas Gschwandtner and Christoph Hefti (definitely check out his wall carpet!).

Curio: Crosby Studios

Harry Nuriev, founder of Crosby Studios, presents a silver furniture set inspired by the aesthetic of a steel-clad and brightly lit elevator. For Harry the elevator is a symbol of passing through different realities, facing the unexpected of an unknown destination and being confronted with feelings of anticipation and frivolousness during an elevator ride. Furthermore, silver is one of the designer’s favourite colours.

Front

Swedish design studio Front (made up of Sofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren) presents several furniture design pieces inspired by the forest, a result of their long-lasting debates, scientific research and experiments.