In an intermingling of performance art, conceptual installation, and notable design history, Thom Browne is staging a scenographic tableau of historic desks at this year’s design miami/ basel. For the fair’s annual design at large program, the American fashion designer has assembled fifteen of the most significant desks from the last century — including pieces from the likes of jean prouvé and ron arad. Positioned opposite the vast grid of furniture is a conceptual landscape of trees and fabric animals, which Browne presented at his fall/winter men’s runway show back in 2014.
The centennial of important desks in design history is animated by a choreographed performance conceived specifically for design miami/ basel. The gestures are enacted by a cast of local design and architecture students who interact with the installation and engage in various, mundane processes of creation. Browne seeks to convey the current shifts in traditional work styles and the evolution of the desk typology, particularly in an age where the role of the office is increasingly vague.
