Design Miami/ 2015
Preview Day By Invitation only/ December 1, 2015, Collectors Preview/ 12-6pm, Vernissage/ 6-8pm
December 2-3/ 10am-8pm
December 4/ 11am-8pm
December 5/ 12-8pm
December 6/ 12-6pm
Meridian Avenue & 19th Street
Adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami Beach, USA

Design Miami/ expands geographic and creative horizons for 2015 edition. Design Miami/ welcomes first-time galleries from São Paulo, Rome, London, New York, Brussels and Beijing. Annual pavilion commission awarded to student team from Harvard University Graduate School of Design Fair’s engagement with graphic arts continues with 2015 fair identity from French illustrator Pierre Le-Tan.

his December 2-6, the ongoing evolution of Design Miami/ will see a number of exciting ‘firsts’ for the fair alongside the maturation of its core relationships and initiatives.

The abiding strength of interest in design from Brazil is marked by the inaugural participation of Firma Casa from São Paulo. Design Miami’s dedication to supporting young and emerging design talent takes a new turn as the fair partners with Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) on a unique pavilion commission. Following the attention garnered by the dedicated watch satellites at Design Miami/ Basel this summer, the December 2015 fair will for the first time host a horological exhibitor in the gallery program. The joie de vivre associated with the fair’s graphic identity in recent editions will be given fresh verve by the celebrated French illustrator Pierre Le-Tan. The Design Curio program for special projects that challenge and contextualize collectible design will return for its second Miami edition.

This December sees a number of new galleries joining Design Miami’s impressive roster of exhibitors. Firma Casa, São Paulo will show a new series of works by the Campana Brothers; Galerie Philippe Gravier, Paris, specialist in architecture, will show two monumental pavilions by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma; cutting edge and experimental contemporary design from Gallery ALL of Beijing, which exhibited in 2014 as a Design Curio; the rare watch dealership Le Collection’Heure, Brussels; collectible contemporary works from PHOS ART + DESIGN (formerly Sarah Myerscough), London; and Secondome, Rome, a dynamic project space that commissions hand-crafted editions from an international list of designers.

UNBUILT: Design Miami/ Harvard GSD Pavilion
Following a school-wide competition in which over 100 students from 32 student teams participated, a judging panel comprising both Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) faculty and representatives of Design Miami/ selected the winning concept. This commission represents the first time Design Miami/ collaborates with a school and the very first design competition organized by the fair.

The chosen project was developed by a team of five students enrolled in the Harvard GSD Master in Architecture program: Joanne Cheung, Jenny Shen, Steven Meyer, Doug Harsevoort, and Yiliu Shen-Burke. As the name would suggest, UNBUILT is a celebration of unrealized design projects that will be realized as 3D foam models, which will form the pavilion’s canopy. The unmade designs that compose the pavilion are being collected from across the Harvard GSD community, and information on each will be accessible via an app developed by the digital design firm Modelo.

Craig Robins, Founder of Design Miami/, states “It is a privilege to partner with Harvard GSD, one of the most amazing sources of creative thinking in the world of design. We are excited to see the students’ vision realized at Design Miami/ – a platform that has always been committed to presenting the work of emerging talent alongside material by established and historic designers.”

Placed at the entrance to Design Miami/, UNBUILT will offer secluded and sociable seating areas; zones of greater or lesser canopy cover to shield visitors from sun or rain; and integrated lighting to create an intriguing and atmospheric night time environment.

Pierre Le-Tan’s Miami/
Design Miami/ has commissioned Parisian illustrator Pierre Le-Tan to create a portfolio of sketches inspired by the fair’s home city. Le-Tan, known for his evocative New Yorker covers, and for delicately colored, crosshatched drawings for magazines including Vogue, Tatler and The World of Interiors, has produced a vision of Miami in his signature whimsical style. The illustrator’s interpretation is peopled with bathing beauties, flamingos and fearsome aquatic creatures set against a backdrop of Art Deco hotels and Key lime pies. The sketches will not only provide the graphic identity for this year’s fair, but will also form the inspiration for a capsule collection produced in collaboration with J.Crew. The collection will be available to purchase on site at the Design Miami/ fair and at select J.Crew stores in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Hong Kong.

Awards, Events and Collaborations/
This year’s fair will see the second edition of the Design Visionary Award, celebrating an exceptional individual or group that has supported, promoted or extended design practice or connoisseurship. The laureate of the award is recognized as having a continued and tangible impact on the design world and will be announced at a special event on September 29th.

This December will also see the return of the Design Curio program: a platform for immersive and surprising installations from the design world’s outer edges. Showcasing everything from handcrafts to cutting edge technology, contemporary conceptual design to historical phenomena, these contemporary ‘cabinets of curiosities’ are interspersed among the gallery booths throughout the fair.

Design Miami/ 2015 will host the ever-popular and dynamic Design Talks series, presented by the Surf Club and will play host to design installations by long-term partners Audi, Swarovski, Fendi and Perrier-Jouët.