A traveling platform that showcases emerging talent, Alcova has revitalized every recent edition of the Milan Furniture Fair. For the very first time, the event is crossing the Atlantic to participate in Design Miami/, another major gathering of the design world. Acumen presents his four favorites.
Lucas Muñoz Muñoz
Highlighting craftsmanship and local materials, bringing his on-site knowledge, while taking into account consumption, pollution, and the context with its social and cultural implications: this, in short, is the creative formula of Spanish designer Lucas Muñoz Muñoz. This Madrid native has brought this formula to Alcova, creating a collection of five pieces from locally sourced scraps, such as laser-cut metal and kitchen marble. A lamp, a chair, and a sofa make up this set, complemented by a... sound system, the designer's signature piece.
Panorama
Based in Mexico City, Panorammma is a furniture design laboratory whose intention is to redefine our relationship with functional objects. How? Through bold experimentation with materials and forms. For the first edition of Alcova Miami, the studio presented its Chainmail Camping Stool which blends the utilitarian with the artistic. This woven chainmail brings an unexpected elegance to this folding chair, a robust piece of furniture, typical of the world outdoorFor the occasion, it was presented in a scenography evoking a highly alternative version of the camping scene, with a floor covered in dark material, adorned with tufts of grass placed here and there, as well as a mirror serving as a pond.
Pineapple
AnanasAnanas is a culinary art studio founded by Verónica González and Elena Petrossian. They design edible installations, culinary experiences accompanied by experimental tableware that encourage their audience to interact with food in a multisensory way. Their approach is more political than it initially appears, as demonstrated by their installation for Alcova Miami, which denounced the amount of water wasted by food production. Mandarins were placed on rotating stainless steel containers, which were then placed in a pool, symbolizing the more than 66,000 liters of water required to produce over 1,000 mandarins. This was the studio's way of highlighting the importance of eating seasonally and supporting local, sustainable agricultural systems.
Studio HAOS
Founded in 2017 by Sophie Gelinet and Cédric Gepner, Studio HAOS aims to define a form of elegance and emotion through deliberately limited means. Originally from Paris, the two designers are based in Lisbon, where they experiment with modest materials. In Miami, the duo presented Room for ReverieA space filled with elements, objects, and other traces of an imaginary resident. A collection of precisely positioned pieces suggesting a presence that remains, nevertheless, invisible. Open to visitors, this room was an invitation to curiosity, to slip into the life of another.
