Basel, Switzerland – June 12-13, 2018 – Art Basel isn’t just about walking around a showroom and viewing countless exhibits, it’s all about completely immersing oneself in the entire world of art and design. This year one of the highlights of Design Miami/’s trip to Basel was their talks program which presents the design world’s most compelling current topics in design. The series brings together the designers, architects, artists and critics who are actively influencing design discourse and production. The Talks offer insight into what drives creative output, criticism and the market.

Art As an Agent for Change – Porky Hefer’s Endangered Collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation

This panel explored how art can serve as an important means to stimulate discussions about environmental issues, specifically the importance of biodiversity and the need to protect endangered species. Using artist Porky Hefer’s compelling sculptural seating pods as an example, panelists discussed how art, design, and conservation perspectives can be powerfully integrated.

Craftsmanship 2.0 in Collectible Design – Between Innovation & Tradition

Parallel to the unprecedented technological advancements of the last twenty years, the design world has seen a return to craftsmanship and traditional artisan techniques with an emphasis on the handmade. Limited editions of handmade pieces have now surpassed the mass-production dream of modernism, elevating collectible design as a category of increasing potential in the art market.

Documenting Time & Good Design

Renowned photographer and Design at Large curator François Halard sits alongside Design Miami/ Chief Creative Officer Rodman Primack to discussed the photographer’s work, how time is a constant element in his practice, and likewise how time influences design and architecture, ultimately defining the way we live today. This concept has not only been woven into the Design at Large program, but it is also the basis of the fair’s graphic identity.

Local Intelligence & Universal Applications

Drawing on the legacy of Victor Papanek’s and James Hennessey’s book Nomadic Furniture, this panel explored architectural modularity and shared knowledge taking the atelier LUMA pavilion as a case study to reflect on the meaning of producing locally in a global context. Featuring an innovative palette of biomaterials developed in Arles and the Camargue region, the pavilion addresses the question of enhancing a local biotope and how specific territorial contexts can radically redefine the design process by liking the local with the global, the peripheral with the universal.

Design Talks/ Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion- R & Company and MUSE present SuperDesign- Italian Radical Design 1965–1975

SuperDesign, a film directed by Francesca Molteni, and authored by Maria Cristina Didero and Francesca Moltenii, retraces the history of the Italian Radical Design movement that in the 1960s coincided with a wave of political tension, but at the same time put Italy on the map as a global focus for design. The screening is followed by a panel discussion featuring Evan Snyderman, Franco Audrito, and Didero. A book signing by authors of SuperDesign follows.

Swarovski presents a Discussion on Smart Living

Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, London, moderates a discussion with the winners of the Swarovski Designers of the Future Award about their priorities, influences, inspirations, and challenges when fulfilling Swarovski’s proposal to present new work based on the theme of “smart living.”

Women Design

Even with the current echoing of women’s voices around the world through the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, women designers tend to be outnumbered by their male counterparts. In celebration of the launch of her book Women Design: Pioneers in Architecture, Industrial, Graphic and Digital Design from the Twentieth Century to the Present Day, Libby Sellers, design writer, curator, and consultant, addresses this imbalance with a panel of some of the industry’s most celebrated and respected practitioners, including Betil Dagdelen, Marianne Goebl, and Nina Yashar. A book signing follows.