PROJECT: Miami Landmark

Miami USA 2013

Today’s landmark is not about height any more, it’s about how the man-made structure involves the urban space and the nature, about how human activities in public spaces can be motivated, and about what kind of visual and spiritual experiences as well as creative thinking it can bring to the people in the city…

Our design for the Miami Landmark offers the opportunity to create a new art area for Miami. It can accommodate programs such as musical studios, creative workshops, auditoriums, art gallery, sky lounge, bar, café, restaurants etc., making it not only a part of the venue for the music festival, but also a platform for the Art Miami. All types of art works can be created, exhibited, performed and celebrated here. Due to these interesting programs, superb views from different levels towards the city, the bay and the park, as well as unique experiences with the water, Miami citizens as well as tourists will be attracted here, and a large variety of public impacts will be achieved both domestically and internationally.

The concept starts from a series of 3 rings, which generate different public spaces with different atmosphere. There is a sequence of 4 plazas opposite to each other. Ring 1 embraces a sunken plaza with a boundary of storefronts where outdoor performances can be hosted and the audience can sit on the steps. From this plaza through tunnels is led to Ring 1 upper plaza where the water front with great views is revealed. Ring 2 is between a plaza with spouts of fresh water and a plaza which is gradually going down 25cm deep into the Biscayne Bay. Finally Ring 3 is the main structure of the proposal, a volume which makes a transition between earth and air, defines the sunken plaza of the Ring 1, and starts to emerge from the earth then being lifted up into the air, providing the visitors and users a unique experience and amazing views in different directions.

These spatial sequences will give the visitors extraordinary experiences almost as spiritual. The plaza lowered into the Biscayne bay where people can walk in the sea water as deepest as till the knees, the spout plaza where the water emerges from the earth, the enclosed sunken plaza connected with the upper plaza with open views, the way through the volume from the earth to the air; all these characteristics generate a very poetic, rich and unique sense of spaces. The intention of creating such impacts to the visitors’ feelings are what we believe will turn it into a true landmark and inspire diverse activities and programs to which it is designed.