Last year, Alcova made its successful Design Miami debut at an Art Deco-era Motel on Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard. Now having taken over the historic Miami River Inn, Alcova's 2024 showcase situates the striking designs of its more than 40 exhibitors against the 116-year-old hospitality space in the Historic District of East Little Havana.
The strong juxtaposition is an appropriate contrast for the group exhibition that occurs annually during Milan Design Week, occupying unique venues varying from an abandoned manufacturing compound in 2023 and the ruins of a nun-lead military hospital in 2022.
Since 2018 founders Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grimahas have highlighted independent designers from across the globe that reach past the design's current horizons, redefining aesthetic limits for future living. The curation of immersive installations from Alcova's roster of designers, galleries, institutions and schools has made it a top destination for visitors of Milan Design Week and now the bustling crowds of Design Miami.
Read on for our highlights.
Panorammma
An Introverted Extrovert’s Guide to Indoor Camping”
Mexico City-based design lab Panorammma founded by Maika Palazuelos, creates functional objects "within a richly aesthetic framework," often utilizing local Mexican materials like onyx and stones for its otherworldly creations. However, these fantastical home objects like the Chainmail Cobweb Chandelier and XCV2 "listening stone" speaker are fully intended to be interacted with, touched and lived in. For its first Miami installation, Panorammma creates a miniature wilderness inside the River Inn, housing their new Chainmail Camping Stools—the centerpiece of its tranquil vignette.
Between Realms: The Known and Untold
Studio Tooj
Studio TOOJ, founded by couple Johan Wilén and Ashley Chong, introduces the duo's new 3D-printed sand table in its electrifying blue hue, alongside a collaboration with Reishi™ by MycoWorks, which utilizes a novel material grown from mycelium. In Between Realms: The Known and Untold, the Stockholm-based designers incorporate their cutting-edge fabrication techniques into whimsical and functional forms, challenging traditional notions of craftsmanship with innovative techniques.
Nice Cock...
Kevin Quale
In Nice Cock... NYC-based artist Kevin Quale subverts the forms of his Delftware-inspired ceramics with contemporary queer motifs. The white-and-cobalt vases are arranged in the style of 17th-century Dutch still life, surrounded by rather absurd props like chicken nuggets and nightlife paraphernalia. Upon closer inspection viewers will discover that the abundance of spouts holding the floral stems are modeled in phallic forms. The artist's statement describes the scene as "the aftermath of a debaucherous gay afterparty in a Miami hotel room and it’s a beautiful hot mess."
Factotum
Lucas Muñoz Muñoz, Joan Vellvé Rafecas
In the central Plaza of the Alcova site, Lucas Muñoz Muñoz has created a site-specific installation comprising varying objects including seating and blaring sound systems. Ongoing work by the designer will build upon the installation with lounge furniture crafted from locally sourced materials including furnishings crafted from cuts of plywood and sheets of metal. Globally renowned for his utilization of sustainable methods and materials, the ethos of "Working with Available Sources (W.A.S)" is definitive of Factotum and his wider breadth of work.
Aluminum Veneer Series
Bureau Parso
Hailing from Eindhoven, Bureau Parso showcases the latest iteration of its Aluminum Veneer Series, comprising silver benches, chairs and side tables. The humble grain of scrap wood is transmuted onto 100% recycled aluminum through a meticulous metal casting process, which brings the distinct styles of collaborators Teo Rhe and Shyang Li together. Li's impressive experimentation in metallic production processes is also demonstrated in his solo installation Elemental Patchwork, where he combines aluminum, bronze, brass, copper and steel into amorphous furniture pieces.
Alcova is on show during Design Miami until December 8.
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