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Wizard From Oz

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

When Australian Damian Barton relocated his design studio to the U.S. in 2003, he went as far down-under as possible: Miami. Since moving there, he's concocted a blend of fanciful futurism in the form of furniture and lighting that put dimensional, geometric, and spatial conventions to the test.

Diagrams of sound waves inspired his Quark café table, which features a steel pedestal base and a powder-coated aluminum dual top that can be specified as a square (32 inches) or a rectangle (32 by 63 inches). The Opporsui side table, its name a reference to the Greek word for opposite, suggests opposing magnetic fields in cold-rolled, powder-coated steel at 12 by 18 inches. The Winglet cocktail table is seriously long and lean, 62 by 14 inches; brushed-aluminum legs support a walnut-veneered top, which terminates at both ends with those little wings slanting up.

Seating is also all about angles. A motorcycle's engine cover lent its name to the Shroud lounge chair; it's cast in yellow, gray or custom colors of fiberglass with a semigloss gel coat, at a width of 36 inches.

The tone turns whimsical with Barton's lighting. An 11-inch-high tepee in powder-coated stainless steel, the Portal lamp has a door that opens to let an LED source shine through. A fluorescent tube appears to serve as the central hinge of the X Light's collapsible powder-coated stainless-steel frame, 18 inches high. 305-978-7048; damianbarton.com. circle 419