Buckminster Fuller: Fly's Eye Dome.
Photo: Jill Peters
Discover Miami’s Design District Through the Creative Lens of Craig Robins
The collector and entrepreneur dishes on the city’s best scenes for its upcoming Art Week
Craig Robins. Photo: Camillo Rios, courtesy of Craig Robins
Real estate developer, collector, and entrepreneur Craig Robins is synonymous with Miami’s creative community—and specifically, the city’s dynamic Design District. After early success with the revitalization of the South Beach area, Robins made a commitment to Miami’s creative community and cultural institutions by further developing the 18-block Design District that is now the world’s first Gold LEED-certified neighborhood. Now a vibrant hub and the site of Design Miami/ and Design Miami/Basel in December, the area is bursting with incredible art installations, retail spaces and galleries.
A lifelong Floridian, Robins is a keen observer of the local landscape—from the changing skyline to the bounceback of the art market. “I was recently at Design Miami.Paris and it felt like the art scene is back,” he says after a slower sales period. “And now we have the most important art and design fairs in the world here in Miami. The sex appeal of this city—the weather and the natural beauty have a powerful neurological effect. It’s not just a party, but a cultural moment.”
Serious Play by Nicolas Buffe. Photo: Courtesy of Craig Robins
Tiffany & Co. in Miami's Design District. Photo: Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
What are you excited to see this year during Art Basel and Design Miami?
I love walking all over the Design District and seeing the pop-up installations and activations in stores including Cartier, Fendi and the YSL flagship. This year Gucci has a Boule De Neige installation and Cartier has a pop-up celebrating 100 years of the brand’s Trinity collection.
From an art and design perspective, Saatchi Yates Slawn exhibition, the LVMH Culture House Gallery Pop-up and Jeffrey Deitch Presents Austin Lee: Psychomachia are all exciting. My own collection Craig Robins Collection 2024-2025 exhibition The Sleep of Reason will also be on view. And then there are street activations such as Bony Ramirez’s Musa Coccinea mural and one by Jill Mulleady entitled Pesca a La Encendida that will be incredible. HighSnobiety is doing an activation and PAMM (Perez Art Museum Museum) will showcase work by Jana Euler—and that is just a taste of what’s happening!
Vortex. Photo: Courtesy of Vortex
Tell us about the changing scene—and skyline—here?
Art Basel made Miami a cultural city and Design Miami has augmented that. In response, builders now value design—from a new site by Fort Partners’ Nadim Ashi to the west-end expansion of the Miami Design District by architect David Chipperfield, to projects by Arquitectonica and artist Daniel Arsham, there is just so much happening now. World-renowned architecture practice Snøhetta is working here as is the sculptor and artist Jorge Pardo.
The Design District is spreading and connecting to Midtown where you’ll find more international cuisines, Little Haiti which has its own art scene, and so on. Miami was at a low point in the 1980s and slowly South Beach emerged in the late 80s and 90s. Art Deco, Mediterranean style architecture, issues around preservation and adaptive reuse all became popular at this time. We see a continuation of this growth and boom—the Design District just keeps growing.
Elastika. Photo: Courtesy of Craig Robins
Le Corbusier by Xavier Veilhan Photo: Courtesy of Craig Robins
Where do you recommend visitors stay and eat during the busy Art Week?
For real luxury the Faena (Hotel Miami Beach) and The Surf Club in Surfside are excellent. The Standard is more affordable and very well located. I am better on the restaurant side of things: Le Jardinier in the Design District, as well as COTE (Korean Steakhouse) and Mother Wolf by Chef Evan Funke are all standouts. MC Kitchen, Pura Vida and Michael’s (Genuine Food & Drink) are other go-to restaurants for me. At Elastika which is set the 1921 landmark Moore building, you sit under Zaha Hadid’s incredible Elastika installation that we commissioned in 2005. This dramatic installation spans the entire atrium and anchors the design-centric dining experience.
One special opening tied to Art Basel is Nami Nori—an incredible indoor/outdoor restaurant that specializes in handrolls. The whole atmosphere promises to be vibrant and upbeat.
Urs Fischer: Bus Stop, 2017. Photo: Luis Gomez
Any tips for maximizing art and design vs time spent in traffic?
In order to enjoy Art Week it’s best to plan your movements. I might start the day in South Beach, move to the Design District and then onto Wynwood. If you plan thoughtfully and allow extra time—and avoid peak times—it isn’t that bad. If you’re having dinner in the Miami Design District and you are coming from South Beach, for example, stop off at the ICA first. Evening is a great time to see all the museums including the Miami Art Museum. Bottom line: stick to one area for a portion of the day.
Cover: Buckminster Fuller: Fly's Eye Dome.
Photo: Jill Peters
