Why Design Matters

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If I was to describe Avant Gallery in the Miami Design District (www.avantgallery.com), I would have to make up words like "color-liscious." Owner Dmitry Prut has an eye for the spectacular. Look up when you walk in and you'll see what I mean. There's an amethyst red Murano glass Venini chandelier hanging smack in the center that's a total knockout. I just returned from an evening event there to launch Design Matters, a series of lectures being presented by HOME Miami and Florida Travel + Life (we're sister publications). To kick things off, rising star Bannavis Andrew Sribyatta (on the right in photo) of Project Import Export (www.projectimportexport.com) in Hialeah dished about his sustainable eco-furniture in funky shapes (kidney-esque and oddly elongated). His woven recycled plastic lounge chairs are perfect for lanai living. Miami-based Facundo Poj (www.facundopoj.com) is what I call a junkyard diver. He picks up airplane doors and windows from Boeing 727s at the Opa Locka Airport then uses his kinetic imagination to turn them into functional objets d'art. When I asked about his funky chaise lounge composed of an airplane window and an Argentinean cowhide, he responded, "Think of all the people who have flown on that plane and looked out that window." Interesting...