• Review of Design Miami/Basel 2008
• Preview of Art Basel Miami and Design Miami 2008

By Diana Lagalante

Basel in Switzerland has a special charm on a Saturday morning; you see people getting ready to go shopping on their bikes; you see people jogging, and once a year, you see well dressed and stylish people, either singly or in couples, all heading in the same direction … they all seem to have one specific objective; one common interest that links them all … the Design Miami / Basel fair at the Markthalle in Basel.

This year, the fair’s director, Ambra Medda, has moved the venue from the Elisabethenkirche to the Markthalle – a former produce market – to take advantage of the great amounts of air and light in the building, which was built in 1920 and is still the third largest domed space in Europe. Besides the size and space of the venue, its concrete walls provide a neutral background that contrast well with the masterpieces of contemporary art. The use of the Markthalle makes the whole experience even more exciting for the local people, who have seldom experienced this venue, which has been closed for so many years.  

At first sight, with its unprepossessing exterior, it doesn’t feel as if you are entering a unique, world-level event. However, once inside the Markthalle, you start to realize that there are some pretty high-wattage names involved. Nevertheless, I found the atmosphere inspiring, cosy, young, and relaxed; people seemed to feel comfortable and not even too worried about accidentally bumping into Medda giving an interview to a local TV station.

Wandering around the show and just following my nose, I discovered the three main areas: the Design Galleries, the Satellite Exhibition and the area designated for the Design Talks.

In the Design Galleries area, the galleries from all the big fashion cities: Paris, New York, Brussels, London, Milan and Cologne, presented their masterpieces.

In the Satellite Exhibition, however, you could discover the actual process of creation in contemporary design: described as a “Performance Process”. Here are some of my picks for the most interesting “Design Performances”:

Michel Charlot, ECAL: Mold Lamp

Michel Charlot’s Mold Lamps for ECAL are positioned and displayed as a main attraction, with a row of these elegant lamps dominating the room. Closer up, however, you can see the rudimentary texture of the material’s surface - taken seemingly directly from the mold – which creates an ironic contrast with your previous impressions.

Martino Gamper: If Gio Only Knew

Broken furniture – remnants of some unknown catastrophe – form the basis of Martino Gamper’s If Gio Only Knew. The title itself comes from the fact that the furniture is taken from Gio Ponti’s Hotel Parco dei Principi in Sorrento, but the feeling of menace provoked in the observer comes entirely  from Martino Gamper.

Tom Dixon: The Micro Factory

Fluid tubes of plastic, normally abandoned on the plastics factory floor, are wrought into delicate fretwork furniture – producing solid, useful, long-lasting and durable objects. Tom Dixon’s Micro Factory shows off the design possibilities inherent in the most humdrum processes.

In the Design Talks area, design as “performance” was again explored and the public was given the opportunity to talk with leading luminary designers such as Konstantin Grcic, Maarten Baas, and many more …

Front's horse lamp

Meanwhile, the show’s key design award, the Designer of the Future award, was given to Swedish design collective, FRONT; who also “performed” some of their creative processes. Their shiny metallic horse lamp is beautiful on its own, but a revelation of nobility in a herd.