What is design? Or rather, what is good design? It is quite akin to the comfort you get at the end of a tiring day when you retire to your room, shutting out the world behind you. It’s so comfortable and perfect that you don’t even notice what has gone into making it so. It’s the way a certain thing has been made that you find it so easy to handle. Well, that’s a layman’s explanation of design but should suffice here as we are not into an academic discourse on the subject. Design has been with us since the time we were only using sharp, pointed stones to help us by with the most basic functions of life such as gathering food or securing ourselves against the wild, to name a few. At some point in time, everyday objects started to get boring and design came to be associated with expensive, esoteric objects. At all times, however, the pioneer practitioners of the age continued to create objects for every day use with equally high quotient of functionality and utility. With the discipline increasingly getting bigger in importance in the scheme of all things aesthetics, and attaining almost the same heights of desirability as a regular work of art, fairs such as the upcoming Design Miami/ Basel are a great opportunity to get acquainted with the latest trends as also with the masterpieces of an earlier age that have outlasted all fads. Utility with panache seems to be the undercurrent of the fares on offer at Design Miami/ Basel 2017 that is on at Messe Basel, June 13-18. At the core of the display are curated exhibitions of museum-quality furniture, lighting and objets d’art, presented by leading galleries from the design capitals of the world. The focus remains on the objects from circa 1900 to contemporary times, though there are exceptional presentations of outstanding 18th and 19th century objects as well. Some top names that are stopping at Design Miami/ Basel this edition include Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Paris, London & New York), Etage Projects (Copenhagen & Paris), Caroline Van Hoek (Brussels), Mercado Moderno (Rio de Janeiro), Robert Zehil Gallery (Monte Carlo), Heritage Gallery (Moscow), Galleria Rossella Colombari (Milan) and Galerie Vivid (Rotterdam) to name a few. An interesting part of the fair will be the cabinets of curiosities that will be present throughout the fair, as part of the platform Curio that invites designers, curators, innovators and gallerists to contextualize and challenge familiar design narratives. As the name suggests, this section of the fair presents a microcosm of the design world to the visitors.This edition’s Design At Large section has been curated by American fashion designer Thom Browne, who is known for reinterpreting clothing for men and women as a means of cultural commentary. So, watch out for a presentation that will take a bird’s eye view of the 100 years of design history, cataloging important breakthroughs and innovations in materials, styles and design statements.And in the midst of it all, you may just find that one piece of fantastic design that you have been looking for all these years, and didn’t know it even existed. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Calibri} — Design Miami/ Basel runs June 13 - 18 at Messe Basel. For details, visit basel2017.designmiami.com Read more