In 2020, Design Miami expanded its program to include a curated selling exhibition of museum-quality vintage and contemporary works. This year sees the first edition of Podium in Basel, curated by Curatorial Director Maria Cristina Didero around this year’s theme, The Golden Age. Design Miami/ Basel x Podium will feature over 30 objects hand-selected by Didero from the fair’s participating galleries and studios.

“The exhibition offers the opportunity to explore a range of presentations of amazing pieces from different contexts, times, and geographies,” Didero remarked. “Podium becomes a platform to reflect on how these pieces can ignite discussions around today’s design scene.”

As part of our series of sneak-peak reports counting down to the opening of Design Miami/ Basel on June 14th, we’re sharing a few very special highlights from Didero’s Podium debut—all of which embody the most progressive movements of their times.

Stacking Beds by Carlo Mollino, 1955

Presented by Rossella Colombari Gallery

Milan gallerist Rossella Colombari played a key role in the rediscovery of Carlo Mollino, whose works now regularly shatter auction records. So it’s no surprise that her contribution to Podium is a rare gem from the brilliant mid-century modernist Italian architect. This bespoke set of oak and brass stacking beds was commissioned for the legendary Casa del Sole, a ski resort in the Italian Alps, one of Mollino’s most rectilinear, rationalist designs from his wide-ranging career.

Margherita Dining Set by Guiseppe Raimondi & Ugo Nespolo for Gufram, c. 1966

Presented by Galerie Meubles et Lumieres

Paris-based Galerie Meubles et Lumieres’s contribution to Podium offers a delightful vision of  the idealistic, future-facing rebellion that characterized the 1960s. This gently undulating fiberglass, foam, and vinyl dining set was produced by radical design brand Gufram, dedicated to developing new furniture forms for the Space Age in collaboration with avant garde creatives. While the Margherita Dining Set epitomizes its time, it was recently cited in the Financial Times’ How to Spend It as among this year’s “freshest” looks.

The Magic of Three Bowls by Nadja Zerunian, 2022

Presented by co/rizom

For insights into a defining design movement from today, consider Nadja Zerunian’s work for co/rizom, the NGO-slash-design-brand that she founded along with Alina Serban and Andrei Georgescu to create opportunities for artisans struggling to compete in modern, globalized markets. Today co/rizom’s work has been concentrated in Eastern Europe, but efforts to revive and preserve regional crafts traditions can be found in pockets around the globe—and we’re here for it!  This noblest of design trends is beautifully represented by these gold-plated copper bowls designed by Zerunian and crafted by Victor Clopotar, an expert Roma coppersmith from Transylvania. ◆

Design Miami/ Basel is open to the public June 14-19, 2022. Preview Day, by invitation only, is June 13.

Tickets are on sale now! Purchase here.