By the time I reached the Miami River Inn, East Little Havana had started to feel like a time warp, hosting something closer to an early-American garden party than an experimental design exhibition.
Alcova, founded by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima in 2018, arrived in Miami in 2023 with the same premise that it made at Milan Design Week: What happens when contemporary work has to negotiate with real architecture, awkward corridors, daylight, humidity, and a stranger’s curiosity?
The outdoor heart of the week-long installation was The Garden Game, a collaboration between Haworth and Patricia Urquiola, which reset the Inn’s central courtyard as a social surface instead of a pass through. In an organizer’s note after the fair closed, the team described it as a “playground” where a grid became an invitation to meet, play, and sit in on the public programming.
A handful of presentations stayed with me because they used familiar typologies—the chair, the lamp, the rug—and pushed them into stranger or experimental territory without losing the pleasure of living with them.
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- Strat Coffman at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Chris Force
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- The Railings installation at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Piergiorgio Sorgetti, courtesy of Alcova
The Railings by Strat Coffman
Strat Coffman, a spatial designer based in Los Angeles and Ann Arbor, made “The Railings,” a modular set of stainless steel bars and connectors wrapped with padded mats that can be assembled into a handrail -ike structure meant for touch, play, and shared movement in a room. It was originally crafted for a gay sauna in Detroit.
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- Vincent Laine at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Chris Force
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- Vincent Laine’s Incremental Chair is made by bending brushed stainless steel four times. Photo by Chris Force
Incremental by Vincent Laine
Vincent Laine, a Finnish born designer from Turku who is now based in Oslo, made “Incremental” as a chair cut from a single sheet of stainless steel that is folded in a few precise steps so it becomes a spare sculptural seat.
incrementalchair.com, vincentlaine.com
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- Anna Stechschulte at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Chris Force
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- Bubble Chair by Anna Stechschulte. Photo by Benedetto Rebecca courtesy of AFS Design
Bubble Chair by Anna Stechschulte
Anna Stechschulte, a handcrafted product designer based in Chicago, made the “Bubble Chair,” a rounded lounge chair with turned maple legs and a leather or cushioned fabric sling seat that hangs like a soft hammock inside a wooden frame.
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- Dace Sūna at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Chris Force
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- Sky-set by Dace Sūna. Photo courtesy of Dace Sūna
Sky-set by Dace Sūna
Dace Sūna, a Latvian designer based in Rīga, made “Sky Set,” a layered opalescent glass light built from stacked curved disks that shift from cool sky blue to warm sunset tones using the Rayleigh scattering effect. (I would love to live with this floor lamp!).
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- Christine Kalia at Alcova Miami 2025. Photo by Chris Force
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- Mission Seating by Christine Kalia. Photo by Piergiorgio Sorgetti courtesy of Alcova
Mission Seating by Christine Kalia & Muskita
Christine Kalia, a designer from Cyprus, partnered with Muskita, a Cyprus based aluminium manufacturer, on “Mission Seating,” turning leftover aluminium window frame profiles into a sci-fi-feeling chair and bench with bright orange cushions and seatbelts.
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- Personal Display Series
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- Personal Display Series. Photos courtesy of Seamlessnote
Personal Display Series by seamlessnote
seamlessnote, a design studio in Seoul, South Korea, made the “Personal Display Series,” a two piece set in hot rolled steel including a chair meant for draping clothes and a stool that doubles as a small vase stand for flowers or objects.
Basketball by Franck Genser. Color by Tonester. Photo by Gabriel Volpi courtesy of Franck Genser
Basketball by Franck Genser
Franck Genser, a Paris based French designer born in Thionville, France, made “Basketball,” a bold wall sconce that turns a simple graphic arc into a sculptural light that feels like an architectural mark on the wall. The paint was created by Tonester Paints.
