Here are some of the coolest (and weirdest) things we saw at Design Miami’s VIP opening

If you’re gonna need a bigger boat, Design Miami may have just the ticket.

Fairgoers were the first to see plans for the hybrid-electric catamaran superyacht Solsea that nautical design firm Rossinavi unveiled at the opening of Design Miami in Miami Beach on Tuesday. Design Miami Curator Glenn Adamson moderated the discussion between the designer and the shipbuilder.

The concept yacht Solsea comes with a 40 Million Euro (about $42 million USD) price tag. At 141 feet, it would be dwarfed by Jeff Bezos’ 400-foot Koru, the world’s largest sailing yacht, which due to its size is docked next to an oil tanker and cargo ships in Port Everglades.

The yacht is designed to spend more time on the water without refueling. To minimize its carbon footprint, Solsea can operate 100 percent on electric power on day trips. For multi-day trips, that figure is reduced to 90 percent. Astoundingly, the catamaran can cross the Atlantic using electric power 80 percent of the time.

Superyachts may not be the normal fare at the Design Miami fair. Visitors to this 20th edition of Design Miami will be awed and delighted with design for everyday use from craft to works by important artists.

Be sure not to miss:

Mindy Solomon Gallery

Booth G20

A hometown favorite year round, the Mindy Solomon Gallery won Best Thematic Expression for its cohesive exhibition based on the color palette from a trip Solomon took to Patagonia this year. The booth features two Miami artists – weaver Frances Trombly and Jula Tüllmann.

Trombly, who hosts the local venue Dimensions Variable with her husband Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, has two works on display, both created from hand-loomed textiles draped over bare wooden frames.

A native of Munich, Germany, Tüllmann joined a studio in Liberty City called The Collective 62, which features work by 16 women artists. Along with another artist, Katja Hettler, they form the design duo known as Hettler.Tüllmann. On opening day, the Brooklyn Museum purchased from Solomon a stoneware and porcelain vessel by South Korean artist Jane Yang-D’Haene, which listed for $23,500.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Booth G03

Yinka Shinobare’s Windy Chair looks like a piece of material wafting in the air. Yet it’s a sturdy aluminum chair designed for display as well as sitting. Nigerian-British artist Shinobare is known for his use of patterns from Dutch wax fabrics that follow the trail of the slave trade. While Windy Chair features images from those textiles, this work marks the artist’s first foray into furniture, according to Brett Littman, a senior director at the gallery. The chair comes in an edition of 3, and each chair is unique because the pattern can be changed, Littman said. They list for $290,000 each.

Bottega Veneta

Booth X08

The Ark, inspired by Zanotta Sacco chairs and commissioned by Mattheiu Blazy, features a variety of animal-shaped chairs such as elephants, horses, foxes, rabbits, cats, dogs, chickens and even a ladybug and a couple of snakes.

Sheri Sack, from Aspen, stopped by to inquire about purchasing a brown horse with a white blaze on its face. Sack wanted to buy it for her adult daughter who lives in Los Angeles. “In the right setting it isn’t juvenile,” she said. “It’s a sophisticated art piece.” Her friend, Albert Sanford, also of Aspen, remarked, “It’s fun. It reminds me of when I had a beanbag chair.”

The Ark includes 500 works, 15 different animals in a variety of colors, said Bernardo Vargas, who works at Bottega Veneta in the Design District. The chairs list for $7,500 to $10,000 each. On opening day, Bottega Veneta had sold scores of the chairs and expected to be sold out by the end of the fair, he added.

Flower Season

Booth P01

Design Miami presents the 2024 Curatorial Project, “Flower Season” by Mathieu Lehanneur, the brilliant designer who created the “Flying Cauldron” in the grand finale of the torch relay at the Paris Olympics this summer.

At Design Miami, Lehanneur pulled another artistic coup with his triptych design devoted to sky, cloud and lightness. His “sky” embedded in a wooden cabinet is titled “Paradise” and includes a light feature that changes from white to stormy blue as the viewer shifts position. Design Miami curator Glenn Adamson marveled, “I don’t know how he does it. It’s a magic trick on legs.”

The installation also includes a chandelier of blown glass orbs that resemble clouds and is titled “Pearls,” and chairs clad in cloth titled “Loose.” On the walls surrounding the exhibit, the artist has strewn handcrafted white tulips.

“Paradise” lists for 78,000 Euros; the “Pearls” chandelier, which can be designed to the client’s taste, ranges in price from 5,000 to 7,000 Euros; the “Loose” chairs, which come three colors, each with an edition of 30, list for 6,500 Euros each; the artist created 2,400 tulips, each lists for 450 Euros.

KLAFS The Art of Sauna in the Kohler

Booth X12

Here’s the perfect respite for weary fairgoers. Take a moment to clear your head and block out all sound by stepping into a stand-alone sauna designed with ribbed cladding by F.A. Porsche. This $100,000 sauna offers the full package – including steam and dry heat, soothing spa music, colored lighting, and aromatherapy, said Lilly Schroeder, a Kohler manager. Not since 2014, when performance artist Marina Abramović invited visitors at Art Basel Miami Beach to take a nap on a cot, has there been such a relaxing moment during Miami Art Week. It’s the perfect antidote for stimulus overload.

This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 11:35 AM.