8 Standout Design Objects at MAZE/Design Basel 2026
The collectible design fair returned to the Offene Kirche Elisabethen for its second edition, “Holy Grounds for Collectible Design,” from June 14 to 18
MAZE/Design Basel, a collectible design fair held in a neo-Gothic church, returned to the Offene Kirche Elisabethen for its second edition, “Holy Grounds for Collectible Design,” from June 14 to 18. Expanding into an adjacent pavilion to accommodate additional galleries, the fair offers an immersive experience in collectible design, showcasing unique pieces and limited editions, and fostering conversations that bridge past and present, craftsmanship and ideas.
“This church was the original venue for the Design Miami/ Basel fair when it began in the city in 2006,” MAZE founder Thomas Hug told Galerie on opening day. “After it ended in 2024, we decided to create something new by returning to this location and launching a new chapter with a strong selection of galleries. The galleries are presenting a lively mix of modern and contemporary art and objects, with a dedicated emphasis on collectible design.”
Scroll through to discover our favorite works at the fair.
1. Charlotte Perriand | Jousse Entreprise
A landmark of midcentury modern design, the Tunisie Bookcase was created by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand in 1952. Designed for the student rooms at La Maison de la Tunisie within the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris, it combines pine, mahogany, and brightly painted aluminum and steel. The metal elements were engineered and produced by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé; the wooden components were manufactured by André Chetaille, and the color schemes were developed in collaboration with Sonia Delaunay. In excellent condition with its original paint, the bookcase pairs a long, asymmetrical hardwood bench with a multi-tiered sliding shelving unit that sits atop.
2. Tom Dixon | Ketabi Bourdet
A legendary, bold sculptural rocking lounge chair designed by British designer Tom Dixon, The Bird Chaise Longue was originally conceived in 1990 at his London metal shop and has been widely produced by Italian manufacturer Cappellini. Its monolithic, sweeping silhouette, resembling the graceful wings of a seagull, was engineered to gently rock. The mass-manufactured Cappellini edition uses a wooden composite and an internal metal frame, padded with polyurethane foam. This circa-1997 galvanized steel version, one of the highly sought-after studio editions with its original cushion, is a rare early piece in exceptional condition.
3. Lea Colombo | Salon 94 Design
A self-taught, multidisciplinary artist and designer from South Africa, known for her vibrant, color-rich visuals and intuitive handling of light and energy, Lea Colombo initially made her mark as a fashion photographer and director in Paris and London before expanding her distinctive aesthetic into collectible design, fine art, and sculpture. Based in Cape Town and Milan, Colombo is a holistic creator who designs functional, sensory-driven objects and environments. At the fair, the gallery showcased her collectible stone furniture, including a unique dining table crafted from red jasper, African jade, sodalite, and serpentine, as well as two equally compelling, one-of-a-kind coffee tables that explore modular, biomorphic, and sacred forms.
4. Birger Kaipiainen | Angela Weber Möbel
A celebrated Finnish ceramic artist and designer, Birger Kaipiainen was widely known as the “king of decorators,” defying the minimalist trends of his era with fantastical, romantic, and highly ornamental ceramics. Since childhood polio hindered his ability to use a pottery wheel, he concentrated on sculpting, painting, and detailed surface decoration. The talented artisan worked at renowned Finnish ceramics company Arabia for over 50 years, while also creating his own unique art pieces, including ornate ceramic plates, plaques, and vases—like this charming piece—featuring fantastical figures, birds, clocks, and flowers.
5. Huub and Adelheid Kortekaas | Morentz
Huub Kortekaas, a philosopher and visual artist, and Adelheid van Swelm, a landscape architect, form a Dutch conceptual artist duo renowned for over 50 years of collaborative work, which they called “Quantum Art.” Married in 1969, they based their actions on the strong philosophical belief that each person is a unique seedling of Mother Earth, striving toward the light. The duo created several major conceptual art installations, symbolic sculptures, and foundational projects, using the plant as their central metaphor for humanity’s inner drive to grow and explore itself. They sculpted organic structures and furniture that mimicked sprouts, seedlings, and potted plants, including their highly acclaimed Engelhart Lounge Chair, a rare, sculptural postmodern piece designed in 1970 with a wide, deep-set seat that allows the user to comfortably lounge in several seating positions.
6. Man Ray | Galerie Eva Meyer
Man Ray’s “Revolving Doors” tapestries are a series of ten large, vibrant wool textiles woven in 1973 under the artist’s direct guidance. They serve as a significant translation of his early modern abstract art into tactile decorative pieces. The series started with ten vivid, abstract collages made of construction paper by the celebrated American-French artist in his early New York years. When first shown in 1919, the collages were mounted on a central, hinged rotating stand, allowing viewers to spin them like a revolving door, generating optical illusions and lively motion. The images were later reproduced as stencil prints in 1926 and lithographs in 1972 before becoming tapestries. Man Ray collaborated with Atelier 3, a well-known Parisian tapestry workshop, which carefully transformed his flat paper designs into nearly 7-foot-tall handwoven wool wall pieces, such as Legend, incorporating thin metal wire strands into the textile background.
7. Ron Arad | ammann//gallery
An avant-garde wall-mounted shelving unit designed by British-Israeli designer Ron Arad in 1993, One Way or Another is playfully constructed from patinated steel and flexible, tempered, sprung steel. The highly flexible steel bands allow the shelf to be bent, curved, and shaped to fit various forms on a wall, with the user deciding the final configuration of the curves, meaning it can be styled “one way or another.” Rather than treating steel as a rigid construction material, Arad manipulated it as though drawing in space. Created during the transition period when Arad merged his famous experimental design laboratory, One Off, into Ron Arad Associates in London, this piece is highly significant as a direct prototype and conceptual predecessor to Arad’s most commercially successful design: the Bookworm shelf for Kartell.
8. Philippe Cramer | Philippe Cramer
A Swiss-American artist and designer based in Geneva, Philippe Cramer specializes in limited edition functional art, sculptural furniture, lighting, and home accessories. Bridging the gap between pure artistic expression and everyday utility, his work is characterized by organic, biomorphic forms, rich natural materials, and ancient archetypal symbols. Exploring concepts of infinity, time, and the continuous cycle of life, his public art “Aeternus Eternus” series (the Latin name translates to “Eternal Eternity”) takes a physical form reminiscent of a Möbius strip, with its fluid geometry creating 180-degree left- or right-hand twists. Designed to serve as a functional public bench or seat, Aeternus Eternus I invites viewers to sit, slow down, and meditate, evoking the passage between life, death, and rebirth.