Welcome Back to Basel

BASEL, Switzerland—At this year's expanded Design Miami/Basel 2007, the slick white Audi-sponsored bar actually rotated around, and like the bar—where the Veuve Clicquot and coffee were flowing—every collector, designer, and dealer was on the move, too.

"This is ten times the excitement of last year," said Zesty Meyers, a principal in New York's R20th Century, who had a well-curated booth featuring eight mini-exhibitions of top designers. "You're seeing something in its infancy that is going to be beyond belief."

The first-time venue was Basel's Markthalle, a historical market with a skylight and a gently sloping concrete dome that is invisible from the street. The natural light did wonders for the wares of the 22 exhibitors, up from 18 last year, when they were squeezed into two nearby spaces, including a church. This year's arrangement is both gracious and spacious, helped along by architect Mia Hagg's design.

"The experience for the visitor is so much more pleasurable," said director and co-founder Ambra Medda. "It's airy, and people come away feeling good."

One big change to the fair was a more architectural slant for a few of the booths—architectural drawings were rampant, in particular. "We felt it had a strong place in the market," said Medda. "It's up and coming. People can't all afford to buy buildings, but buying a beautiful drawing or a model is extraordinary."

Also new was a whole area of "performances" unaffiliated with the gallery booths, where young, up-and-coming designers showed off the processes of making their pieces. Max Lamb, for instance, brought his own sandbox—literally. He makes cast-pewter tables on the beach in his native Cornwall, melting down actual pewter bars over a kind of campfire, and then pouring the molten liquid into holes in the sand. He then uses a rod and a knife to cut away the sand. Somehow, a table emerges, and then sells for £1,500. At tonight's cocktail party, he plans to make one for the assembled crowd. "I might sell it—if it works out," said Lamb. "The one from the Vernissage didn't go so well."

Sales Sales Sales

What did go well were sales from throughout the fair. An air of polish and success suffused Design Miami/Basel 2007, and it was hard to think of it as a satellite of the big Basel:

—Cristina Grajales sold two Missoni vases in glass and fabric to big-time collector Beth Rudin DeWoody for $3,000 a pop. Grajales also offloaded a fabulous metal, glass, and silver-leaf cabinet by Christophe Come for a whopping $100,000. A large burlwood table by Mira Nakashima went for $65,000.

—Max Protetch, a new entry in the fair this year, was offering four prints by Inigo Manglano-Ovalle showing a model for his Phantom Truck work, which is to be shown at documenta. They are priced at $10,000 a pop.

—The staffers from Galerie Kreo in Paris actually had their working papers spread out on one of their finest pieces, a 110-by-55-inch table in Corian and aluminum on four large feet: Martin Szekely's Table Blanche. They had already successfully tempted six buyers to part with €50,000 each for the work.

—At R20th, Meyers had arranged posh, small rooms for each designer, and collectors responded: Each of the four furniture pieces by Wendell Castle that Meyers was showing, all from Castle's "Black Edition" series, sold for a cool $100,000. (Castle himself was spotted pushing his granddaughter around in a stroller.)

Zaha Hadid Superstar

Certainly one overarching trend of the fair was the work of Zaha Hadid. Her pieces were seen at five different exhibitors, including the Kenny Schachter ROVE gallery, which was offering a giant, shiny desk prototype for €75,000—that is, until three of them sold. Now they'll set you back €125,000.

"I'm not here to sell tables and chairs," said Schachter. "I'm interested in the crossover between art and design."

And before you could say "starchitect," Hadid herself floated into Schachter's space, followed by a small entourage. An impertinent journalist was forced to ask her: With so many people showing her stuff, was it possible to have too much Zaha all in one place?

Hadid was too smart to take the bait. "It's a really positive moment for me," she demurred, before taking a sidebar with Schachter.

The same could be said for the whole fair. For their part, principals Medda and Craig Robbins are happy enough with the new digs to have started negotiations with the Markthalle for a ten-year lease.