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Muller Van Severen Welcomes Guests to Their Living Room at Design Miami/ with Airbnb

In this most meta of meta experiences during Miami Design Week 2017, Fien Muller and Hannes Van Severen welcome guests into their living room with A Wild Thing, at Design Miami/ 2017. Commissioned by Airbnb, the installation by muller van severen is an intimate exploration of the shared home.

The space at Design Miami/ is a precise replica of the designers’ living room in Ghent. Their furniture, artworks, books and other objects will be on location in their ‘home away from home’, a special opportunity for visitors to experience how they live. Interactive lightboxes with recorded scenes from their living room windows will transport visitors to their home in Belgium, immersing visitors in their local surroundings as well as their home. Simultaneously, the design duo has shared their home in Ghent on Airbnb.

Known for their creation of beautiful pieces of furniture and art, with this collaboration muller van severen intends to share the deeper meanings that exist for treasured objects at home – which they label Wild Things. Using directional sound, narratives from their lives have been paired with selected items within the living room, creating a highly immersive installation  and illustrating  the invisible connection between hosts and guests- a truly Airbnb experience.

Each narrative is a personal anecdote from Fien and Hannes, reflecting the meaningful connections they each have with the objects on display. A painting by Hannes’ grandfather, noted artist Dan Van Severen, is juxtaposed with a chair made by the couple’s young daughter. Ambient sounds of the fireplace and the family dinner table are interspersed with sculpture, important books and other artworks – playing on the contrast between high design and the sentimental keepsakes that make up their home.

 The installation aims to conjure an understanding of muller van severen’s family stories, daily routines, personal style, and network of friends, creating the essence of home and homecoming in a public space.

“Airbnb is committed to giving voice to a new generation of designers. With this installation we also give voice to objects of beauty and design. The design, arrangement and mood of our homes, as well as the connections and experiences that occur within them, can represent our values and ourselves. As a platform, Airbnb empowers interactions between people who might never otherwise connect, cultivating an appreciation of place, resources, and rituals. When staying in an Airbnb home, one experiences life as it is, not as it is pretended.” says Andrew Speyer, Airbnb Regional Brand Marketing Director for the Americas.

A Wild Thing continues Airbnb’s mission of curating creative talent from around the world. Following Passeggiata (Milan, April 2017), Sobremesa (Miami, December 2016), Makers and Bakers (Milan, April 2016), Housewarming (Milan, April 2015), and A Place Called Home (London, September 2014), A Wild Thing is the brand’s latest project inviting some of the world’s most innovative and exciting designers to explore the shared home.

     

Open to Public – December 6 – 10, 2017

Meridian Avenue & 19th Street

Adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center

Miami Beach, FL Continue reading “Muller Van Severen Welcomes Guests to Their Living Room at Design Miami/ with Airbnb”

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DESIGN MIAMI/ 2017 DESIGN Talks Schedule

This year’s edition of DESIGN MIAMI/ DESIGN Talks offers an outstanding selection of discourses involving a global cornucopia of some of the leading design and production creatives, collectors, and critics.

Wednesday, December 6/

1:30–2:30pm/
Rethinking the City through Blackness/

 

3–4pm/
Redefining Cultural Impact: How New Technologies
Influence Artists and Creatives/

4:30–5:30pm/
Architecture and the Future of the American City:
Miami and Chicago/

6–7pm/
Mwabwindo School: Winner of the Panerai Design Miami/
Visionary Award/ An Elliman Talk/

Thursday, December 7/

11am–12pm/
Art and Advocacy: How the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
is Collaborating with Artists to Raise Awareness
about Climate Change/

1:30–2:30pm/
Performative Representation and Black Aesthetics/

3–4pm/
Ideal City: New Architecture in the Miami Design District/

4:30–5:30pm/
The Crying Game: Opulence and Melancholy
Make Architecture at Large/

6–7pm/
Order from Chaos: the Art and Design of
Self-Assembly/ An Elliman Talk/

Friday, December 8/

1:30–2:30pm/
Concept, Abstraction, and Blackness/

6–7pm/
A Need for Green: Improving Urban Life
with Plants/ An Elliman Talk/

Design Miami/ 2017
Tickets Available Now/
Visit designmiami.com to purchase tickets to Design Miami/ 2017, taking place December 6–10.  

*Images courtesy of Design Miami/

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LOT Office for Architecture+OBJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST x Marharam present ‘SPECTACLE’ the 2017 DESIGN MIAMI/ Design Talks Theater

Award winning architectural design firm LOT Office for Architecture  has teamed up with their design studio OBJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST in partnership with North American textile giant MAHARAM to present ‘SPECTACLE’ , the 2017 DESIGN TALKS THEATER, which will host the  Design Talks program December 6-10th at Design Miami/. 

Using idea exchange as the core principal of the space , there will a plethora of of interesting elements like a cylindrical lectern, sliding seats and rolling spheres to entice the active participation of attendees.  

The salubrious warm atmosphere created by the amber-gold mirrors surrounding the space will reflect both actors and audience members, multiplying and drawing them into engaged listening and lively discussion.

LOT Office for Architecture founders Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis

Founded in 2012 by Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis, with offices in New York and Greece,  this architectural firm and design studio is dedicated to pursuing strong design concepts with pragmatism and consciousness. Their work has been featured in press including The Wall Street Journal, Wallpaper* Magazine, Elle Decor, Frame, Surface Magazine and Phaidon publishers and presented in exhibitions, such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Greek Architecture Biennale, and the Salone del Mobile in Milan. 

In 2013 LOT was shortlisted for the European Piranesi Awards and in 2014 was selected for the Wallpaper* Architects Directory, the iconic magazine’s list of the best architectural talent from around the globe. In 2016 LOT won the invited competition to install a Skyline, a large monumental public installation at New York’s Flatiron Building Plaza.

Definitely looking forward to attending the Design Miami/ Talks in this space! 

*Images courtesy of LOT

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Design Miami/ 2016 Highlights: Maison Perrier-Jouët Strand Garden by Andrew Kudless

The Maison Perrier – Jouët Strand Garden by Andrew Kudless  at  Design Miami/ was an oasis of serenity and calm in the midst of the biggest design show in North America.  

Drawing from Perrier-Jouët’s  history with Art Nouveau,  San Francisco based designer Andrew Kudless combined those elements with those involved in the ritual of serving champagne: 

“I was interested in the way that strands, fibers, branches and vines were applied across every aspect of Art Nouveau, from paintings to architecture, says Kudless. “The curving strand motif evokes nature and movement over time. I wanted to look at four of Perrier-Jouët’s emblematic materials – wood, chalk, glass and grapes – and see how I could create strands out of each one.”

The three screens of 8′ curving strands were meant to evoke tree trunks or vines.

The interlocking oak-top benches were meant to evoke the riddling racks and wine wine presses while their concrete legs resemble the chalk that shelters the cellers and nourish the vines.

This table placed in the center of the space was made from bio plastics and was illuminated from within thus evoking the radiant clarity and vibrant personality of Perrier-Jouët wines .

And placed on top of this magnificent table was this extraordinary ice bucket 3D-printed from ground Chardonnay grape skins! Entitled The Perrier-Jouët Marc Metamorphosis, it is a fitting tribute to the freshness, subtlety and sophistication of the Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque cuvée using the cognizant metaphor of the wrinkled raisin.   

So happy I was able to spend some time in Strand Garden!

More images from this wonderful installation courtesy of Perrier-Jouët: