Best of Show

Exhibiting for the first time at Design Miami/ Basel, Netherlands-based Morentz has won the Best Gallery Presentation award. According to Design Expert, Simon Andrews, “Their skillfully curated, atmospherically staged installation of rare and diverse works celebrates the very best of international mid-century design, intuitively uniting Nordic, Italian, American, and Brazilian expressions.

The award for Best Curio Presentation goes to Ukrainian-born, Belgian-based designer Victoria Yakusha of FAINA Gallery. Her Stepping on Ukrainian Soil installation features a two-and-a-half-meter handwoven tapestry that symbolizes the deep, unbreakable connection between Ukrainians and the soil of their homeland.

The Best Contemporary Object is Danish artist-designer Astrid Krogh’s Planet, presented by Galerie Maria Wettergren in Paris. Design Expert, Lee Mindel explains: “From a land where light can be either overabundant or totally scarce, Krogh has created an abstract expression of the science and art of the universe. Made of gold leaf, silver, platinum, aluminum, and fiber optics—with its sweeping flux of moving light and various vibrating surfaces—Krogh’s Planet is a pulsating feast for the eyes.”

Office set by Pierre Poutout, 1960's

The fair’s Best Historic Object award winner is a suite of office furniture designed by Pierre Poutout, presented by Galerie Meubles et Lumières in Paris. According to Mindel, “This low slung office suite—three chairs, a console, and a Calder-shaped desk—is an historic reminder of 1970s-era, avant-garde French architecture. The desk is anchored to the floor only by a flat steel plate. The comfortable chairs have a gyroscope base that adjusts to any position. Each piece is an engineering feat that appears to defy gravity. And the ensemble is a gesamtkunstwerk that celebrates the integration of design and architecture."