Internationally acclaimed design exhibit coming to Gables Museum
What are the products we use in our everyday lives, and what impact do they have on our planet? These are the questions posed in Design for a Living World, an exhibit from The Nature Conservancy that opens Thursday, July 26, at the Coral Gables Museum, 285 Aragon Ave.
The exhibit features intriguing works from 10 of the world’s most-renowned designers, including Isaac Mizrahi, Kate Spade New York, Yves Béhar and Maya Lin.
In developing the exhibit, The Nature Conservancy invited these designers, plus Ted Muehling, Stephen Burks, Abbott Miller, Hella Jongerius, Christien Meindertsma and Ezri Tarazi, to create usable objects from sustainable materials found around the world.
Wood, wool, plants and other organic materials from the hardwood forests of Maine to the mangrove waterways of Micronesia were transformed into innovative yet practical items, revealing extraordinary stories about regeneration and the human connection to the Earth’s natural resources.
The collection of stunningly beautiful designs, including clothing, furniture, accessories and more, will be on display in the exhibit, along with the photographs of award-winning photojournalist Ami Vitale, who documented the people and places associated with the project.
The Design for a Living World exhibit suggests that together, designers and consumers help re-shape our economy and advance a global conservation ethic by consciously choosing sustainable materials that support, rather than deplete, natural environments.
The exhibit premiered at New York’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in May 2009, and was later shown at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and the Field Museum and Millennium Park in Chicago. This stop at the Coral Gables Museum will be the final opportunity to view the exhibition anywhere.
Design for a Living World opens with a cocktail reception featuring the Bombay Sapphire World Experiential on Thursday, July 26, at 7 p.m. Tickets for the opening reception, which includes open bar and hors d’oeuvres, are $25 for museum members, $30 for non-members and $40 the day of the event.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the museum at 305-603-8067.
The Nature Conservancy will host a closing celebration on Oct. 25, featuring a live auction of the one-of-a-kind objects showcased in the exhibit.
For additional information about the exhibit, visit www.nature.org/media/design/index.html.
