Awkward in name but elegant in execution, Design Miami.Paris 2025 returned to the ornate L’Hôtel de Maisons for its third edition in the French capital.
More than 25 galleries are participating in the fair, which trades the traditional booth model for luxurious hotel room spaces and larger-scale outdoor displays in the tranquil grounds of the 17th-century mansion that was once home to late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Designed by the legendary architect François Mansart, the venue embodies the refined sophistication of early French classicism with high ceilings, parquet de Versailles flooring, and decorative wood paneling.
It all makes for an idyllic venue to host a design fair. There are moments where design objects on view echo the ornamentation of the rooms, and others where they deliberately contrast it. On the fair’s VIP morning, Tuesday, October 21st, guests flooded into the venue to peruse a wide range of pieces, from decorative arts of the early-to-mid 20th century to cutting-edge contemporary forms.
The enthusiasm from collectors in the opening hours reflected the current energy in the design market at large, which has seen a renewed surge in collector interest in recent years. Dealers reported a strong international collector presence and a solid start to sales in the fair’s opening hours.
Here, Artsy selects the five pieces from the fair that made our wish list.
James de Wulf, Resonating Ping Pong Table, Song no. 1, 2025
Presented by James de Wulf
Price: $115,000
Resonating Ping Pong Table, Song no. 1, 2025
James de Wulf
James de Wulf
American artist James de Wulf turned ping pong into something resembling performance art during the fair’s opening day, inviting VIPs to trade forehands on his metallic table.
But the work is not just a ping pong table, nor even a mere functional table, but a sound piece, too. Six aluminum plates that make up the table’s surface are tuned to an A minor pentatonic scale, resulting in soothing tones that emanate from the table when the ping pong balls land.
de Wulf got the idea to incorporate sound into the piece when he showed another, more standardized, ping pong table at a recent art fair, and passersby mentioned that they could hear the click-clacks of people playing on it. “I just had a light bulb moment that I should tune the surface of the table,” de Wulf recalled. The revelation sent the designer on a journey: “I went down a tunnel of learning about sound, and tuning, and different materials,” he said. “The aluminum just resonates so well.”
Sleek and industrial, the table comes with special racquets, a rubber ball, and a foam ball for “quiet play.”
Adam Pendelton, White Onyx Table, ‘FF25-002-OX-01,’ 2025
Presented by Friedman Benda
Price: $60,000
One of today’s leading ultra-contemporary names, American artist Adam Pendleton is known for his conceptually driven and politically engaged works that span painting, drawing, film, installation, and performance. Now, in a collaboration with design heavyweights Friedman Benda, the artist is expanding his practice into design, debuting White Onyx Table, ‘FF25-002-OX-01’ (2025) on the gallery’s stand.
Despite its dense volume, this cylindrical marble table is placed gracefully in the corner of the gallery’s lounge room display; its pure, cream-colored form appearing to float slightly above the floor. “The piece is about a way of seeing the world, and seeing it in geometry,” Astrid Malingreau, director at Friedman Benda Paris, told Artsy. “You’ll notice the bottom feet that have a particular geometry—this huge piece is actually resting on a very small surface. It’s a beautiful balance.”
The table won the fair’s Best Contemporary Work award and hints at an exciting new area for one of today’s most acclaimed working artists. Monolithic and minimal, it extends Pendleton’s existing preoccupations with form into the functional realm. In November, Pendleton will open an exhibition of design works with the gallery in New York titled, “Who Owns Geometry Anyway?”
François-Xavier Lalanne, Lampe Pigeon, 1991
Presented by: Mitterrand
Price €85,000 ($98,543)
Given that they are both from France and in incredibly high demand, it felt inevitable that the Lalannes would have a strong presence at this fair, and Paris gallery Mitterrand’s display featuring the famed design duo did not disappoint. Taking over a vast first-floor room in the mansion, trademark works from the designers’ oeuvre are on view, from alligator-backed bronze chairs to lilypad-shaped tables and, of course, a few sheep.
My eyes, however, were drawn to François-Xavier Lalanne’s Lampe Pigeon (1991), a lamp of, yes, a pigeon, whose belly—a globe of opaline glass—acts as the luminous light source. The work captures the blend of whimsy and craftsmanship that has made the Lalannes so beloved among collectors, radiating warmth and humor while retaining tastefulness. It’s a lamp that’d sit nicely on my shelf, and a gentle reminder that art can illuminate daily life, literally and figuratively.
Frida Fjellman, Viper with Treasure, 2025
Presented by Hostler Burrows
Price: $12,000
Swathed in natural light from the tall windows of the mansion’s upstairs salon, Frida Fjellman’s blown glass and monumental ceramic works combine animal forms, organic shapes, and geometric abstraction.
For this solo presentation with New York and Los Angeles gallery Hostler Burrows, the Swedish artist created these works especially for the venue’s refined interiors, drawing inspiration from the Palace of Versailles, Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette, and early 18th-century Rococo aesthetics.
In the center of the display is a striking chandelier, its geometric, jewel-like glass forms attached to gold-toned chains that pour down from the ceiling. Flanking it below are two sculptures of boars on light blue pedestals that appear alert, as if they’re ready to pounce at any moment.
The whole presentation is a standout, but I became particularly enamored with Viper with Treasure (2025), a smaller piece in the booth’s corner portraying a coiled ceramic snake guarding a large dark green glass orb. The green tones feel both earthly and otherworldly, and the craftsmanship—the fluidity of the snake’s curve, the way light moves over it—gives it a sense of elegance and vitality. It’s beautiful, tactile, and alive with light.
Axel Einar Hjorth, Lounge chair from the “typenko” series, model 36100, 1931
Presented by MORENTZ
Price: €47,500 ($55,068)
In a velvet–adorned corner room off the mansion’s labyrinthine first floor, Dutch gallery MORENTZ brings a selection of 20th-century European and American tables, chairs, and sofas, arranged as if the visitor were entering a carefully curated living room.
I was immediately tempted to take a seat in Axel Einar Hjorth’s Lounge chair from the “typenko” series, model 36100 (1931), which is positioned near the entrance. Hjorth (1888–1959) might be the most famous designer you (or certainly I) have never heard of. He was chief designer for Nordiska Kompaniet, Stockholm’s leading department store, during the early 20th century, when the country’s design was gaining international recognition for its now-commonplace utilitarian approach.
This chair exemplifies Hjorth’s transition from classical influences to early modernism, combining high-quality craftsmanship with industrial materials—a hallmark of Scandinavian modern design to come. This chair bridges Swedish Grace—a decorative yet restrained offshoot of Art Deco—and functionalism, emphasizing utility and simplicity. And, it might have been my tired legs, but this piece also emphasizes comfort, its angled backrest and deep seat inviting a reclining posture.
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