Congratulations, Ambra Medda, Director of Design Miami

In less than three years, Ambra Medda has positioned Design Miami/ as the most prominent and substantive global forum for collecting, exhibiting, discussing and creating limited-edition design. With annual shows in Basel, Switzerland (June) and Miami, USA (December) Design Miami/ brings together the most influential designers, collectors, dealers, curators and critics from around the world. Each show explores both the commercial and creative sides of design by presenting preeminent galleries, cutting-edge Satellite Exhibitions and Design Performances , a series of Design Talks engaging industry luminaries, and both the Designers of the Future and Designer of the Year Awards.

As Director of Design Miami, Medda has formed strong partnerships with the world’s most respected cultural organizations and educational institutions including the Vitra Design Museum, the Georges Pompidou Art & Culture Foundation, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and ECAL (University of Art and Design Lausanne). Medda’s development of the Designer of the Year and Future Awards has allowed Design Miami/ to forge relationships with both established and emerging designers and collectives including Marc Newson, Zaha Hadid, Tokujin Yoshioka, FRONT, Established & Sons, Max Lamb, Martino Gamper, Julia Lohmann and Clemens Weisshaar & Reed Kram. In April of 2008, Medda published her first book, entitled Destination Design, a guidebook-styled account of the 50 most sought after design desitinations in the world.

Raised in Europe, Medda spent her early years in Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom immersed in the artistic community. The daughter of a design gallerist, her education in the field came from the world’s most distinguished designers, artists, collectors and dealers. Her childhood home, a salon of sorts for the international design elite, also functioned as a showroom where Medda’s mother presented her refined yet eclectic vision, which encompassed both contemporary and historical design elements. Curating exhibitions and attending auctions, fairs and gallery openings throughout her childhood, Medda developed her passion for design and acquired an in-depth, first-hand knowledge of the field.