From Delano to Icon to Icon Brickell........

It is almost a status symbol when you talk about designer Philippe Starck's new ventures - hotels, condominiums and even home furnishings in Miami extravagance. Eyebrows are raised and doors set open in the social circles of the "beach", as soon as you say, "I live in Icon." It is a ticket to instant acceptance, and you can now consider yourself "in" the well-deserved, trendy and chic elite.





Throw chandeliers in the bathrooms, lift the resident's mail box high up the ceiling (20' to be exact), dress the gym walls with white sheer curtains, install a 40' animal bone painted gold in the lobby... You can not help but wonder, "Who lives here?" Is this a modern day Disney made for kids? Or a preview of Harry Potter's latest movie........ It's neither.

"I have always said that the only acceptable style is freedom", says Philippe.

Starck's extraordinary creativity and futuristic vision reverses the ordinary and creates strong emotions of surprise. It scars the perception of the viewer towards the norm. It's as if a stream of feelings flows in a new direction and there's no way back. I have to say that it's a unique experience that the liberal Miami crowd recognizes, participates in and loves..... I am pretty sure you will love it too.



Starck's careful use of materials interact with one another to create spaces that are light and fresh. Palettes of white and light tones of blue, beige, yellow and purple on the yellow and purple on the floor and walls are juxtaposed by a strong, polished merbau veneer on the walls. The use of crystal chandeliers in each space ties humor and formality.

Drama - and boy, there is a lot of it - is injected through the use of white curtains in any shape and form you can imagine: circular, straight, oval, walls, above the lobbies and along the of inside the gym. Columns disappear into the ceiling, playfully interacting with light creating the impression of the unknown. There appears to be a hidden space behind what you can see, just waiting to be discovered. Unusual elements and shapes sporadically appear as you walk along the corridor of the lobby and suddenly there is a large, out of scale mirror in silver and a marble chest in the garden between the trees and the grass...
La Cage Aux Falles....? Maybe.

But Miamians just love it; they fit right in.

Inspired by classic designs, the furniture has been reinvented to meet the modern needs of the 21st Century. A wide selection of fabrics and materials are incorporated into the structure and design to create humor, intensify ambiance and instill shock. There's never a chance you'll walk by a Bedside Gun lamb, a Juicy Salif, A Mademoiselle Chair, a Gold Garden Gnomes or an Ara Lamb and not notice them. They are not just furniture; they are sculptures. Extensions of life and humor, a breaking point in the boundaries and a recognized path in design... that

was never recognized before. The furniture is utilized singularly; the pieces stand by themselves in the space; well thought out poems of modern times expressed in detail.

Since Miami's new development boom, new trends in design and architecture started to emerge here. Progressive in cultural diversity and a direction towards modernism and freedom of construction, Miami is achieving, today, levels in design few other US cities have ever reached. Modern designers and architects such as Philippe Starck receive great understanding and gain support in the city of light and sun. Starck's, warm welcome to this city is the greatest testament of this support, and Miami is glad to have his sense of wit, beauty, vision and design for its people to enjoy.

"I have spent my life struggling against the elitist features of design, and even if I am not the best designer of the world, I am at least the one that has succeeded in deleting it."

Philippe Starck