During this year’s Miami art week, Alcova once again demonstrated its flair for reshaping historic spaces into unexpected venues of contemporary design. From December 3–8, 2024, the Milan-based platform took over the Miami River Inn—reputedly the city’s oldest hotel—injecting its vernacular wood-framed structures with over 50 international exhibitors exploring radical materiality and conceptual innovation. Situated in the Little Havana neighborhood, the early 1900s property was transformed from a storied relic into a lively hub where heritage architecture and forward-thinking design met on equal terms.
DESIGN
Alcova’s approach has always involved relocating design into unconventional settings, and this second Miami edition was no exception. Spread across four historic houses encircling an open courtyard, the event carved out a decentralized exhibition format. Instead of pristine white walls, visitors navigated porches, parlors, and corridors imbued with the patina of age, discovering installations and objects that directly engaged the hotel’s layered character. In doing so, Alcova provided an alternative experience to the city’s high-gloss showrooms, grounding its curation in the tactile reality of time-worn materials and local building traditions.
This edition placed a strong emphasis on sustainability and the future of craft. Studios like Crafting Plastics Studio, known for bioplastic experimentation, presented vividly colored sculptures and installations that openly questioned the boundaries of materials. Lucas Muñoz Muñoz contributed furnishings and audio systems assembled from salvaged industrial components gathered in Miami—an ingenious commentary on circular design strategies and the adaptability of the urban environment.
Numerous exhibitors played with the architectural fabric and outdoor spaces to highlight the site’s unique qualities. In the courtyard’s dormant swimming pool, Ananas Ananas staged a theatrical display of steel vessels and edible tangerines, illustrating the global water footprint of agriculture. The fusion of design, performance, and public engagement invited guests to reflect on consumption and resource use—issues that reverberate beyond the show itself and into the sphere of urban ecology and responsible growth.
Inside the historic buildings, a diverse range of works bridged old and new. Some designers invoked heritage techniques adapted to modern aesthetics, while others forged entirely new methods of production. Studio Haos introduced furnishings that resembled delicate paper lanterns, using fibrous materials and metal grids to simulate both fragility and structure. Meanwhile, Adam Kvaček and Studio LoopLoop provided insights into experimental biomaterials, revealing how architecture and interior design can chart more sustainable futures through innovation in both form and fabrication.
Miami’s built environment and cultural layers became active participants in the exhibition’s narrative. The architectural intimacy of the site allowed smaller-scale works—like banana-leaf seating designed in response to Cuban material limitations—to resonate powerfully. Instead of isolating objects behind gallery walls, Alcova allowed them to meld with creaking floors and ambient breezes, creating an environment where visitors were physically immersed in the dialogue between past and present.
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Alcova’s second Miami venture signaled a matured understanding of the city’s creative landscape. By steering away from standard fair formats and embracing the quirks of an early 20th-century hotel, the event offered a richer and more intimate exploration of where design might be headed. This fusion of architecture, craft, and conceptual thinking rendered the Miami River Inn not just a location, but an active medium—an architectural canvas where designers and audiences collectively reimagined the relationships between materials, space, and the future of design.
