Katie Stout installs a stone menagerie across Miami's Design District

If you're walking around the Miami Design District this week during Design Miami 2025, you'll notice some curious zoomorphic forms: you might bump into a large-scale horse, or a lizard, a frog or even a mermaid, carved out of stone and playfully perched across the district's boulevards.

These are the work of New York-based designer and artist Katie Stout, and the result of this year's Design District creative commission in collaboration with the Design Miami Curatorial Lab.

Katie Stout's animal magic at Miami Design District

Dubbed ‘Gargantua’s Thumb’, the open-air installation features seating that will stay in the district into the new year, continuing an ongoing tradition of creative commissions to enliven the location through art and design.

'This project is about blurring the line between function and fantasy,' says Stout, known for her abstract, colourful compositions, and ceramic objects and furniture that boldly and playfully recreate the human body. 'By scaling up these sculpted creatures and amplifying their idiosyncrasies, I want to highlight the tension between intimacy and monumentality, precision and imperfection, celebrating the rawness of the handmade in a neighbourhood synonymous with design excellence.'

Stout crafted each sculpture's form out of clay in her studio, before working closely with fabricator ALTBLD to scan, enlarge, and CNC-cut the designs from different stones. The full family of seating objects includes a horse, a lizard, a frog, a dog, a whale, a trout, a pelican, a crab and a mermaid, all creatures inspired by Miami itself.

'The objects are inherently sculptural, but their scale and location invite viewers to perch, drape and play on them,' adds Stout. 'Interaction with these pieces feels natural, their playful quality creates an opening [for people] to participate in their existence rather than a barrier.

'Over the past decade, the Annual Design Commission has helped shape the Miami Design District into a global stage for bold, original ideas,' comments Craig Robins, president and CEO of DACRA, the company that, over the years, has developed the location into a vibrant district uniting art and commerce. 'We’re proud to mark this ten-year anniversary with Katie Stout, whose playful and provocative work challenges the boundaries of design. This milestone is a celebration of the creative voices that continue to transform our public spaces and define the cultural spirit of the Miami Design District.’