Miami.Paris design highlights: everything you missed

Design Miami.Paris returned last week to the Hôtel de Maisons, the magnificent 18th-century mansion near the Musée d’Orsay where Karl Lagerfeld lived on the first floor.

In this opulent setting of Parisian splendor, visitors discovered 24 galleries and 18 presentations of 20th century and contemporary design. The second edition, which ended Sunday, was promoted by Art Basel Paris at the renovated Grand Palais, which attracted more Americans to the city.

Design highlights from Miami.Paris 2024

“On opening day there was an enormous number of great American collectors and an incredible, extraordinary energy,” said Didier Krzentowski, owner of gallery kreo, which showed Ronan Bouroullecs Flou Coffee table (2024) in green wave glass and furniture by Pierre Paulin and Alessandro Mendini, among others. “It’s fantastic to show contemporary furniture in a historic location,” he added.

The fair’s connection to the French capital’s venerable history of design, architecture and decorative arts is what sets it apart, says Jen Roberts, CEO of Design Miami.Paris. “There is a synergy with the city because Paris is a design city,” she said.

These thoughts were echoed by Jennifer Olshin, a partner at Friedman Benda. “People come to the booth and teach me,” Olshin noted, noting the level of knowledge of many visitors.

At Friedman Benda, Nendo’s beautiful, large-format paper lanterns, made in collaboration with workshops in Kyoto, were juxtaposed with Daniel Arsham’s transparent ones OFL III Lattice Desk ($60,000) and OFL II Chair ($42,000), 2022, made of resin and wood. Joris Laarmans was also at the stand Voxel roundtable with pixelated feet inspired by the animals and characters of video games.

Salon 94 now dedicated most of its stand to Gaetano Pesce (1939–2024). Pieces of felt were visible La Famiglia (2024), a collection of different sized chairs reminiscent of family members. They were among the last pieces the Italian maestro made before his death in April. “He was testing whether he wanted to make them out of resin or felt,” said Trang Tran, director of Salon 94, who realized the pieces posthumously. A testament to Pesce’s experiments with resin were the origami Table (2024) with embedded “fabric flowers”, Il Vaso Più Indispensabile (2020) – a red resin sculpture depicting the belly and legs of a pregnant woman, and the Palladio Cabinet, price $180,000.

Many exhibitors mixed works from different eras. Nilufar, for example, presented Christian Pellizzaris Brugmansia Amaranto floating (2024) – a magenta ceiling light made of hand-blown Murano glass, inspired by a plant with trumpet-like flowers, next to armchairs by Gino Levi Montalcini and Giuseppe Pagano from Italy’s rationalist movement.

Highlights of the historic design included François-Xavier Lalanne’s oval dining table with a Carrara marble top resting on steel rings and six chairs with similarly curved legs, presented by Galerie Mitterrand. Priced at 650,000 euros, the piece, sold last Friday, was named best historical design object and contrasts with Lalanne’s better-known animal-inspired furniture.

At the Galleria Rossella Colombari, an exhibition of Italian design focused on the legacy of Carlo Mollino. In addition to his works, Ettore Sottsass stood out Tappeto Volante (1974), a two-sided daybed with red backrests, green cushions and beech armrests. It is also called the “flying carpet” because of the red fabric underneath.

Over at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Marc Newson Drawer shelf (1999) was awarded best contemporary design object. It is a prototype with white painted wooden feet (some of the paint is worn off); it is a prototype from a French private collection. Later, Newson changed his mind about the color and realized it with black feet.

On the first floor, Laurence Bonnel, owner of Scène Ouverte, explained how Lagerfeld once lived in the property. “This used to be Karl Lagerfeld’s bedroom and we wanted to create something soft in this white-themed space,” she said, pointing to the curved furniture by Kryst Studio and Parisa Bazargani.

Nearby was the best gallery presentation by Yves Gastou and Galerie Desprez-Bréhéret on the multifaceted work of Jean Touret (1916-2004), who founded the collective Les Artisans de Marolles. The two galleries have passionately championed Touret’s legacy in recent years, from an eagle-shaped lectern to oak furniture and wrought iron light fixtures.

Several new projects were also unveiled, including a collaboration between American biotechnology company MycoWorks and French design agency Paragone. MycoWorks commissioned seven designers to create furniture pieces using Reishi, a material woven from mycelium with a texture reminiscent of leather. The results include Sophie Dries’ standing mirror supported by Reishi columns and Marion Mailaender’s aspen Stool carefully woven from black narrow stripes.

Other exhibits alluded to French savoir-faire, such as Pierre-Marie Agin’s collaboration with French crystal maker Saint-Louis on a series of tentacle sculptures, Chamade (2024). Inspired by pipe organs in churches and Delft vases, Agin first made drawings, followed by 3D printed objects that he “transferred” into crystal. “I adapted my drawings to the heritage of Saint-Louis and chose more subtle colors as primary colors,” he explained. “Saint-Louis is proud to say it has nine colors, but since it’s textiles, that’s not many for me.”

The exhibition continued in the garden, where a prefabricated house by Jean Prouvé from 1946 was built on the lawn. It was exhibited by the Downtown Gallery and sold for over 1 million euros. Touret’s three minimalist female figures made of cast concrete, The Three Gracescourtesy of Yves Gastou, nestled between topiary, while Bela Silva’s painted glazed ceramics, Jardim Botânicocourtesy of Spazio Nobile, stood on pedestals in the lawn.

Also out was Clotilde Ancarani’s bronze medal Gunnera Tables whose shapes are reminiscent of lush lily petals, and new rhubarb Sculptures sticking out of the gravel. “They are presented as if they have always been here,” said exhibitor Giulia de Jonckheere about the Brussels-based Italian designer’s work.