Following yesterday’s glamorous members-only Collectors Preview, the 18th edition of DESIGN MIAMI.BASEL opens to the public today, kicking off five days of celebrating the best in collectible design culture and commerce.

With many thanks to this year’s selection committee—Design Miami Senior VP of Fairs Grela Orihuela, FAIA architect Lee F. Mindel, and collection advisors Simon Andrews and Jeremy Morrison—scroll on to discover the Best of Show award winners at DESIGN MIAMI.BASEL 2024!

Paris-based Galerie Meubles et Lumières earned the Best Gallery Presentation Award with a très chic installation of 1960s avant-garde French designs set within a dramatic black scenography. Standout pieces include a rare beige-and-white suite of seating by Christian Adam, an exquisite rosewood sideboard by Michel Boyer, and iconic aluminum and foam Module 400 chairs by Roger Tallon.

Best Curio Presentation has been awarded to debut exhibitor Craft x Tech. The Tokyo-based initiative was launched last year with a laudable mission: preserving Japanese craft traditions by pairing expert regional artisans with international design talents to create extraordinary collectible designs at the intersection of past, present, and future. Notably, esteemed design curator Maria Cristina Didero was brought on to oversee the first collections. In Basel, Craft x Tech has unveiled a series of intricately crafted yet au courant objects designed by Ini Archibong, Sabine Marcelis, Yoichi Ochiai, Studio SWINE, Hideki Yoshimoto, and Michael Young.

Design lovers around the globe felt a profound loss in April with the passing of Gaetano Pesce. To honor his enormous contribution to design history, a number of exhibitors have chosen to showcase the Italian design maestro’s work at DESIGN MIAMI. BASEL 2024—including Paris’ Pulp Galerie, which dedicated its entire booth to design objects from Pesce’s landmark exhibition at Centre Pompidou in 1996. The selection committee awarded Best Historical Design Object to Pulp Galerie’s Pratt Chair (1984), which is one of the earliest examples of Pesce’s iconic work with his signature material, resin.

Best Contemporary Design Object has been awarded to Fire Opens Stone (2023) by British design star Samuel Ross for New York gallery Friedman Benda. Hand sculpted in Nero Africa granite, concrete, and steel and finished(with a fired honey and milk patina, this limited edition bench is part of Ross’s 2023 Course series, which was inspired by his experience as a child in the brutalist housing blocks of London’s Brixton neighborhood. The rough stone and concrete elements riff on the visual language of public architecture and play spaces.