In 15 Minutes on Design & Human·Kind, we connect with outstanding creatives to explore design-led visions for a more equitable and interconnected world. For this installment, Design Miami’s Ginger Wang interviews Miami-based designer James Quinaz about his Bay Store project, in which he salvaged discarded design objects from Biscayne Bay and the Miami River to create a new furniture collection.

This series was conceived and curated by Wava Carpenter and Anna Carnick of Design Miami and Anava Projects as an exploration of the Design Miami/ 2021 curatorial theme Human·Kind.

About Human·Kind: As an antidote to our most pressing social and environmental problems, today’s leading-edge design thinking strives to empower traditionally overlooked perspectives while expanding the scope of valued narratives. The process begins with seeing the world for what it is: a network of beings entangled with other beings, whose future is entirely interdependent. The objective is to level hierarchies that elevate humans over other species and to subvert unjust systems that privilege certain people while denying others the full slate of human rights.