Design Miami 2013, Part 2: The Old

Hicks_Pergay_DemischDanant.JPG

What comes around, goes around and this year’s selection of vintage design pieces have aged gracefully. The star of this year’s show, new or old, was Charlotte Perriand. The architect and designer was best known for her work for Le Corbusier—the creative directors at Louis Vuitton spearheaded a renewed interest in her life and work. Jewelry from designers and artists also had a prominent place on the Design Miami floor show including a special exhibition of Gijs Bakker’s jewelry projects. Simple geometries and a focus on traditional craftsmanship are back in favor with fiber art and primitive shapes finding a new audience with today’s collectors.

At top: Maria Pergay – Cord Structure, 1977 & Daybed, 1968
Demisch Danant, Design Miami
The works of these two important designers looks contemporary and fresh in the context of Demisch Danant’s inviting exhibition space. The bold magenta ropes in Sheila Hicks’ wall hanging are constructed with coil-wrapped yarn on a muslin backing. Maria Pergay’s stainless steel daybed adds a sleek drama to any room. The 81-year-old Parisian designer’s recent collaboration with Fendi was also profiled in our first Design Miami roundup.

Perriand_LouisVuitton.jpgLa Maison au bord de l’eau, Louis Vuitton (1934) at The Raleigh Hotel

Of course, the star of the show was a Parisian architect and designer from a generation prior to Pergay. Louis Vuitton’s research into Charlotte Perriand’s life and work sparked a revival of interest in the influential designer’s projects. Their La Maison au bord de l’eau installation at the Raleigh Hotel, a prefab beach cottage finally realized 80 years after the project was concepted, was furnished with reproductions of Perriand-designed furniture.

Perriand_LC4_Cassina.JPGLC4 CP, Cassina (1928)

Cassina, the only authorized manufacturer of Perriand’s furniture, re-issued a special LC4 chaise lounge with Louis Vuitton leather on the occasion of the designer’s 110th birthday to coincide with the LV project. Perriand’s research for Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret lead to the use of tubular steel in the iconic chair.

Perriand_GalerieDowntown.JPGUne Maison a Montmartre (1959) at Galerie Downtown, Design Miami

And Paris’ Galerie Downtown/Francois Lafanour showed furniture and interior features from a 1959 Perriand-designed house, Une Maison a Montmartre.

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