fair game; There's never been a better time to go to Art Basel Miami Beach.

Byline: Leslie Camhi

Tropical allure, world-class private collections, and a heady mix of European and Latin American influences have helped make Art Basel Miami Beach, now in its fourth year, a prime art-world destination. Beyond the constellation of dealers at the convention center, artists, collectors, curators, and critics converging in Miami this month will find a citywide celebration of art and design.

This year marks the debut of "design.05 Miami," exhibitions of top postwar- and contemporary-design dealers in the Moore Building, a twenties furniture showroom whose soaring central atrium will be transformed by Zaha Hadid with an installation she describes as having "a chewing-gum effect." The building also houses the Moore Space, a nonprofit venue whose December program features a labyrinthine roller coaster by Danish artist Jeppe Hein.

And all across Miami's Design District, for the week of the fair, dozens of temporary exhibitions are sprouting. Jeffrey Deitch is bringing the Brazilian twins known as Os Gemeos, makers of gargantuan puppets whose graffiti once adorned the streets of So Paulo. Colombian-born, Miami-based artist Federico Uribe's latex-and-plastic sculptures will hang from the ceiling in an environment filled with futuristic Edra furniture.

A few blocks south, in Wynwood, Miami's benefactors are also thinking big: The Rubell Family Collection, the Margulies Collection, and (new this year) the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation display their exceptional art holdings in the area's vast warehouses. Also in Wynwood, Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art, under Bonnie Clearwater's ...