Hasta La Ideas

This just in: Brooklyn-based architecture and design collaborative Acconci Studio, founded in 1988 by Vito Acconci, will be honored as Designer of the Year at this year’s Design Miami, (December 5-9 in Miami Beach). Awarded to a designer or studio “that has made a mark on design history, pushing the boundaries of the discipline through a singularly innovative and influential vision,” the honor has been bestowed in previous years on the likes of Zaha Hadid, Konstantin Grcic, and David Adjaye.

Among the perks of winning Designer of the Year is the opportunity to whip up a large-scale installation. These commissions have typically consisted of site-specific, temporary installations for the fair iself, but now Design Miami is setting its sights on projects that will be both permanent and public. Acconci Studio will get the ball rolling with “Klein-Bottle Playground,” the Moebius strip-style climbing structure in the above rendering. Originally developed for the “Art for the World” program, as part of a touring exhibition of experimental recreational equipment and toys for refugee children, it will be permanently installed in the Miami Design District in 2014. The structure was inspired by the German mathematician Felix Klein, whose “Klein Bottle” had no identifiable “inside” or “outside.” Acconci Studio’s playground-ready riff will consists of a series of tubes extending out from and into a central sphere, allowing children to climb in, through, and on top of it.

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