Miami, USA - As main sponsor of Design Miami/ 2008, Swarovski Crystal Palace unveiled a show-stopping installation of Liquid Space by Ross Lovegrove at Design Miami.

The concept of Liquid Space is centred symmetrically around the interplay of materials and light and the synergies associated with pure materials and their refractive, reflective optical beauty.

It is a dining art space whereby each and every single element works together as a single entity, in harmony and in pure material expression. As an installation piece the chandelier appears to have melted through the ceiling, viscously inverted to deliver three-dimensional light above and below the tables. The impact of the polished aluminium surface is to reflect the total concentrated mass of 250,000 Swarovski crystals and capture the liquidity of light interplay.

Swarovski Crystal Palace celebrated the launch of Liquid Space with a private dinner in honour of Ross Lovegrove with a guest list of design, art and architecture icons.

Nadja Swarovski with Arik Levy Piero Lissoni (left), Ross Lovegrove and Tom Dixon (right)

In addition to Liquid Space shown in the Design Miami/ temporary structure, Swarovski Crystal Palace displayed multiple Blossom chandeliers and Cavern benches in the curatorial Design Miami exhibition, Beyond Organic: Design in the State of Nature, which explores design inspired by the natural world.

“Swarovski Crystal Palace is proud to be associated with Design Miami as we believe strongly in supporting contemporary design and art. I have been honoured to have worked with some incredible artists who have created pieces for Swarovski Crystal Palace that blur the boundaries between art and function. Design Miami is an important showcase for the wealth of talent that exists today,” says Nadja Swarovski.

Now in its seventh year, Swarovski Crystal Palace has worked with some of the world’s foremost and collectable designers including Zaha Hadid, Yvés Behar, Studio Job, Tom Dixon, Ron Arad, Tokujin Yoshioka and Fernando and Humberto Campana. Design Miami has established itself as the preeminent international fair for limited-edition design and the partnership with Swarovski has developed from a natural synergy in the support and promotion of groundbreaking new design.

Swarovski, the world’s most prestigious manufacturer of precision cut crystal, is dedicated to its work with contemporary designers. Swarovski Crystal Palace is a revolutionary project that has aimed to create signature interpretations of light and design using the emotive medium of cut crystal. Whilst celebrating and reinterpreting the rich traditions of the chandelier, Swarovski Crystal Palace has broken barriers, played with the rules and opened a new chapter in the history of lighting, art and design.

SWAROVSKI
113 years ago, in 1895, Daniel Swarovski I, a Bohemian inventor and visionary, moved to the village of Wattens, Tyrol in Austria, with his newly-invented machine for cutting and polishing crystal jewellery stones. From these beginnings, which revolutionised the fashion world, Swarovski has grown to be the world’s leading producer of precision-cut crystal, for fashion, jewellery and more recently lighting, architecture and interiors. Today, the company, still based in Wattens, family-owned and run by 4th and 5th generation family members, has a global reach, with some 22,000 employees, a presence in over 120 countries and a turnover in 2007 of 2.56 billion Euros. Swarovski comprises two major divisions, one producing and selling loose crystals to the industry and the other creating design-driven finished products. Swarovski crystal components, known by their product brand names CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements for fashion and STRASS® Swarovski® Crystal for architecture and light, have become an essential ingredient of international design. Showing the creativity that lies at the heart of the company, Swarovski’s own-brand lines of accessories, jewellery and home décor are sold through more than 1150 Swarovski stores and concessions in all major fashion capitals, while the exclusive Daniel Swarovski accessories collection has become the company’s Couture signature. The Swarovski Crystal Society has close to 400,000 members worldwide, keen collectors of the celebrated crystal figurines. And in Wattens, Crystal Worlds, the multi-media crystal museum, has attracted over 7 million visitors since it was opened in 1995, as a celebration of Swarovski’s universe of innovation and inspiration, of crystal as the ultimate creative material. The Swarovski corporation also includes four industrial brands, Tyrolit®, manufacturing grinding tools, Swareflex, for road safety reflectors, Optik, producing precision optical instruments and Signity, Swarovski’s brand for genuine and created gemstones.