The end of the year brings a familiar rhythm to the world of collectible design: galleries and creative connoisseurs move from PAD London to Paris Art Week to Salon Art + Design in New York before convening in Miami. Design Miami always captures this energy and channels it into a vibrant finale. This edition marks the milestone of its 20th anniversary and the fair begins with new ambition. Last year, parent company Basic Space expanded its reach with events in Los Angeles and New York, launched Design Miami In Situ in Seoul and increased its presence in Paris. In his hometown, the presentation opens today, December 2nd, with a program that brings together established and emerging voices who approach materials research with new conviction.
Curatorial Director Glenn Adamson leads the proceedings with the theme “Make. Believe.” and is based on a dialogue between technical mastery and limitless imagination. The framework considers collectible design as a field where bold ideas find vibrant physical expression – a perspective that underlines the fair's anniversary year. “It seems to be a unique opportunity to reflect on the legacy of the fair while at the same time thinking about new ways forward,” he says. “We are bringing together the voices of the next generation alongside established and historic designers, creating a conversation about craftsmanship and unfettered imagination, and the ways in which these two things continually influence one another. Design Miami has always been a meeting place of practicality and possibility.”
Exhibitors responded to the theme with wide-ranging interpretations that unfold in the iconic Pride Park tent, from historical masterpieces to dazzling, one-of-a-kind contemporary creations. Visitors encounter artful glass environments, sculptural explorations of geological forces, reinventions of traditional craftsmanship, and immersive collaborations with key partners such as Fendi, Range Rover, Gaggenau, Lasvit, Piaget, and more. Adamson welcomes this breadth: “We want to create a spark of inspiration throughout the show to create the feeling that the future of design is unfolding before us.” Discover the highlights of this year’s edition below.
Superhouse.
Photo: Matthew Gordon
Superhouse
From the 1980s onwards, designers viewed furniture as no less important a channel for creative expression than art, exemplified by the rise of galleries such as Néotu and Moss. This decade has long fascinated Superhouse founder Stephen Markos, who is dedicating his third Design Miami exhibition to works from his pivotal period. The booth features works by a dozen key figures of the period, including a branching bronze candelabra by Michele Oka Doner that mimics brambles and bark, a yellow cabinet by Richard Snyder that resembles a walking cake, and a colorful fiberboard umbrella by Dan Friedman, who once furnished WilliWear's New York offices. They all meet in a booth designed by Studio Ahead and Farrow & Ball that evokes the postmodern tendencies of Bay Area artist Garry Knox Bennett, who won the coveted Best Curio Presentation for his engaging scenography. “This stand recaptures the freedom and fearlessness of a time when boundaries between art, craft and design simply didn’t matter,” says Markos, “similar to what we see with contemporary manufacturers today.”
Ateliers Courbet, “Neo Nouveau” (2025).
Photo: Courtesy of Ateliers Courbet
Ateliers Courbet, “Neo Nouveau” (2025).
Photo: Courtesy of Ateliers Courbet
Courbet workshops
The craft-focused gallery returns with Neo Nouveau, a captivating body of work by global artisans whose exploration of organic matter is the primary inspiration for their vocabulary. Whether carved from wood or stone in Italy, layered and shaped with mineral pigments in France, or freely formed from clay in South Africa, each piece on display reveals the natural character of its material through careful craftsmanship. In doing so, they distill principles of Art Nouveau, in which the boundaries between fine and decorative art dissolved, through abstract, biomorphic forms. Don't miss French artist Pierre Bonnefille's dazzling sideboard, created using a centuries-old method that involves applying more than 30 layers of crushed minerals and carbon powder to create a distinctive organic texture. or Brazilian ceramist Valéria Nascimento's hand-sculpted porcelain flowers, which revitalize the iconic floral motifs of Art Nouveau.
Victoria Yakusha, “Land of Light II.”
Photo: Vladyslav Chabanenko
Victoria Yakusha
After securing the coveted “Best Curio Presentation” at Design Miami in 2022, she continues her winning streak. The versatile Ukrainian architect relies on optimism in times of crisis and sharpens her design talents towards the discovery of inner light. She achieves this with a powerful presentation that connects four characters – herself, fashion designer Lilia Litkovska, quantum researcher Maksym Kovalenko and artist Roman Minin – with mythical creatures that reflect virtues such as wisdom, wonder, uniqueness and kindness. Hand-sculpted from Yakusha's signature sustainable material Ztista, a tactile blend of clay, flax, wood chips and biopolymer, each design serves as a vessel for wonder and implements her underlying philosophy of “living minimalism,” where everyday objects appear simultaneously ancient and futuristic.
Jane Yang D'Haene's table at Future Perfect.
Photo: Courtesy of The Future Perfect
The future perfect.
Photo: Courtesy of The Future Perfect
The future perfect
New beginnings are afoot at The Future Perfect — and not just because the influential gallery recently unveiled a new home at Villa Paula, a historic Little Haiti landmark that once housed the Cuban Consulate. An ever-impressive stand, a wealth of work will showcase emerging names from the roster, taking their practices to new heights. Jane Yang D'Haene will introduce her first-ever coffee table, a remarkable, one-of-a-kind creation layering mosaics of multi-colored glazed ceramic tiles on oak panels. Other highlights include sculptor Ian Collings' foray into lighting and a lamp by Autumn Casey inspired by the principles of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Shelf by Joris Laarman at Friedman Benda.
Photo: Courtesy of Friedman Benda
Fernando Laposse, Patachin with Friedman Benda.
Photo: Courtesy of Friedman Benda
Friedman Benda
At Friedman Benda it is always difficult to single out a particular work, whose outstanding range once again captures the diversity of outstanding craftsmanship in contemporary collectible design. Mounted on one wall is a technically daring shelf by Joris Laarman, a feat that reflects the Dutch designer's ongoing research into sustainable alternatives to plywood manufacturing. The idiosyncratic Mexican architect Javier Senosiain presents a huge planter with integrated seating made of reinforced concrete and colorful mosaics. Fernando Laposse will contribute “monster lamps” made from agave fibers alongside Misha Kahn’s gleaming glass and ceramic mirrors.
Rich Aybar's Slug Chair at Delvis (Un)Limited.
Photo: @piercarloquecchia @dsl__studio
Objects of common interest at Delvis (Un)Limited.
Photo: Yiorgos Kaplanidis
Partly (un)limited
Since its founding last year by Alcova masterminds Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi, Milan-based gallery Delvis (Un)Limited has continued to explore what exactly it means to live among collectible design – its first exhibition literally invited designers to sleep in the gallery. This open-ended investigation unfolds again in Miami with a materially adventurous booth that recreates the living room environment of this inaugural exhibition, rearranged following conversations between curators and designers. The works on display reflect this evolving narrative, including a bright pink stone bar cabinet from Objects of Common Interest that houses a uniquely constructed speaker system and a compact rubber chair that showcases emerging artist Rich Aybar's fascination with unconventional forms.
Design Miami will be on display at the Convention Center Drive & 19th Street, Miami Beach through December 7th.