The installations at Design Miami are always one of the fair’s main attractions. From specially commissioned structures that adorn designated areas of the fair grounds to the immersive exhibitions themselves, there is no lack of dramatic environments on site.
One highlight of this year’s fair, which takes up residence in Miami’s South Beach in early December, is an interactive setting entitled ‘Belong. Here. Now’, brought to life by Airbnb. Created with the Chicago-based architecture and design firm, Design With Company, the space will serve as a platform for visitors to come in and move around its modular components as they wish. It will also serve as a venue for a roster of creative talents, who will take up residency during the week.
Aesthetically, the installation is a playful fusion of traditional architectural elements and other familiar motifs. The components will be easily movable so that visitors can leave their own mark on the playful surroundings. 'We’re thinking of them as a series of nested rings. Each begins as a primitive shape: a triangle, a square, a circle, etc,' explains the duo. 'They are meant to look like winding lines that dance between the columns [and] offer basic variations for ways that people can relate together in the space.They provide a seemingly infinite variety of configurations for people to interact in new and unexpected ways.'
'A lot of our work looks at the intersection of narrative and architecture, or how physical space and storytelling collide,' says Stewart Hicks, who co-founded Design With Company together with Allison Newmeyer. 'Over the years, Airbnb has become a platform that, among other things, demonstrates how people live today and how they relate to their physical spaces.'
With a global mix of talents ranging from performance art and music to illustration and photography all in the cards, the residency is set to fruit all kinds of memorable moments.
'The installation is designed for people to experience the unexpected, inviting guests to come in with a sense of discovery and leave inspired,' says says Jonathan Mildenhall, Chief Marketing Officer of Airbnb. 'Belong. Here. Now. speaks to Airbnb’s mission to create spaces where people can belong anywhere.'
The environment is a playful fusion of traditional architectural elements and other familiar motifs
The installation will also serve as a venue for a roster of creative talents from around the world, who will take up residency during the week
INFORMATION
’Belong. Here. Now’ will be on view opposite the entrance to Design Miami from 2-6 December
ADDRESS
Meridian Ave & 19th Street,
South Beach
Miami
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