Four authorities will teach us about “Designing for Diversity: Affordable Housing for America’s Changing Demographics” tonight, Monday, March 26, at 6 p.m., Glasgow Lecture Hall, at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Refreshments will be served.
Panelists:
Sherry Ahrentzen – Shimberg Center for Housing
Brian Philips – AIA Univ. Of Pennsylvania
Mark Segal – Dr.Magnus Hirschfeld Fund
Moderator:
Javier Fernandez, esq.- Akerman Senterfitt
The Resorts World project received news that the gambling component of their hotel has been denied. The project headed up by the Genting Group and designed by local architecture firm, Arquitectonica, are now in the process of downsizing the program of the project to only include a five star hotel, luxury condominiums and restaurants along the Biscayne Bay waterfront. The site remains unchanged, as the Resorts World will be located where the current Miami Herald building is located. The Herald announced earlier this year that they would be moving farther west to an area in Doral.
For more information on the story follow: Miami Herald information on Genting Group project
Madness descends on Miami this weekend, as the Ultra Music Festival rolls into town. The UMF is the event for electronic music in the United States, held annually in downtown. This year marks the first time the event will take place in Bayfront Park. If you don’t have tickets already, best look for them through third party vendors, because the event is sold out. Another option would be to sneak onto one of the many high rises that front Biscayne Bay for a view of the event. The photo below is courtesy of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
As someone who has proudly conquered the rigors and sleepless nights of architecture school, only to later become an architecture professor, I find this video very eye opening. Not only have I been subjected to many of the similar comments made in this internet meme, but as I sit and teach my students, I now find myself making the very same comments. But rest assured, I have never made students come in on a Sunday. Enjoy the video, which was made by local South Florida college students.
Andres Viglucci is the Miami Herald’s veteran reporter on urban affairs in this city, and a frequent supporter of DawnTown. In the newspaper today, he writes a great article about the revival of Flagler Street, Miami’s first main street in the downtown area. Flagler, which demarcates North and South for the city, has gone under radical transformations in the past 60 years. It went from being the place where people went to get anything they needed to a ghost town when residents began moving farther into the depths of suburbia. The past few years have shown a great change for Flagler Street with new residents and development returning to downtown Miami.
The second article, by David Smiley, is about the hotel industry in Miami Beach. Apparently, Miami Beach plans to remake the dull convention center into a high-end hotel “in the heart of South Beach”. Another high end hotel? In South Beach? But this time inland? Sounds interesting, but like the article states, it is a BIG GAMBLE. Read more about it below.
Miami Beach gambles on radical remake of convention center – Miami-Dade – MiamiHerald.com.
I watch Dexter. I didn’t always watch it, but after hearing everyone rave about it, I decided to go on a viewing binge of the last 5 seasons, culminating with the start of season 6 last year. It had me on edge for the first few seasons (Sgt. Doakes, you will be missed), but after Jimmy Smits’ forgettable season 3, it all went downhill. The show relies to heavily on a formula, which means the longer you watch it, the fewer surprises there are. Dexter Morgan lives in Miami, or so you would think. To untrained eyes, a city with a beach and palm trees could pass for Miami or Miami Beach. To me however, it is so obvious that Dexter is not filmed here that the directors might as well put the Hollywood sign in the background of their shots.
So how does this relate to DawnTown, or architecture in general? Well, when a show that claims to be filmed in Miami, and ends up showing off another city, it disturbs me a bit. I like authenticity, even when it comes to fiction. I’m a purist. So when a show comes along that says it’s about Miami, and is actually FILMED in Miami, I take notice.
TV/film producer, writer and Miami native Mitch Glazer, has a new series beginning on April 6th called ‘Magic City’. The series will air on the Starz network, and is a period piece about Miami Beach during the late 1950′s. I personally applaud Mr. Glazer for bringing authenticity to this new show. Like Burn Notice and Miami Vice before it, something should be said for using the resources that this city has to offer. Can you imagine Crockett and Tubbs without the Art Deco and 80′s post modern architecture backdrops? I understand that there is more involved than simply saying “hey let’s film in Miami”; Politics, the economy, and production costs all factor in when choosing a locale. However, you got to pay respects to the guys that go the extra mile and say, “We need to film in Miami, because we can’t duplicate the look of it anywhere else”.
Why talk about a TV Show? How about: To show off Miami’s architecture instead of creating fake sets. Come April 6th, I will be giving Magic City a shot. I’ll be hoping that they highlight on the Beach’s rich architectural past to highlight some of the original character that can only be found here. Sorry Dex, although your cliffhanger ending this season has left me wanting, passing off the Venice boardwalk and pier as Miami Beach doesn’t cut it for me anymore.
Here is an article from the Miami Herald talking more about the show ‘Magic City’: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/04/2674377/magic-city-a-tv-flashback-to-1950s.html
The Atlantis Condominium, designed by local firm Arquitectonica and always shown in the opening credits for Miami Vice.
The collaboration between Friends of Miami Marine Stadium and DawnTown pushed the Marine Stadium into the international spotlight. The stadium is truly one of a kind and deserves to have a second chance. Below is a message from the Friends of Miami Marine Stadium non profit.
On Thursday, March 8, time certain of 2:00 PM, the Miami City Commission is scheduled to vote on legislation to form a public private partnership between the City of MIami, The Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority (MSEA) and Friends of Miami Marine Stadium (FMMS). The goal of this partnership is analyze alternatives to restore and operate the Marine Stadium. We are asking you to support this legislation and contact the Miami CIty Commissioners listed below.
Please attend the meeting if you can. The location of the meeting is:
Miami City Hall,
3500 Pan American Drive
Coconut Grove
You don’t have to speak-showing your support is important.
Please email the Commissioners below and ask them to approve this legislation. You can simply say the following:
Please approve the legislation establishing a partnership with Friends of Miami Marine Stadium to restore the Stadium. You can then add any personal reasons why you want to see the Stadium restored. Click on the names to email the Commissioners individually:
Commissioner Willy Gort
Commissioner Marc Sarnoff
Commissioner Frank Carollo
Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones
Commissioner Francis Suarez
To send to all five Commissioners at once, click here
If you are having difficulty loading your email page, the email addresses are below and you can copy and paste them:
wgort@miamigov.com
msarnoff@miamigov.com
fcarollooffice@miamigov.com
fsuarez@miamigov.com
mspence-jones@miamigov.com
The legislation, as developed by the Administration, is a vital step in moving this complicated process forward. It establishes a Steering Committee that will provide recommendations to the City Manager as to the specifics of the final agreement. The Steering Committee will meet regularly, will be subject to the Sunshine Laws, and will assure the public an opportunity for input. Because the final agreement must be approved by both the City Commission and MSEA, the City can first work with Friends (FMMS) to flesh out the plan. Finally, the legislation designates FMMS as the entity to work with the City and MSEA to develop the Stadium. This is both appropriate and necessary. Since the Marine Stadium was closed in 1992, we are the first (and only) group to come forward with a plan for its restoration. To continue our work, and begin developing both fundraising and operating strategies, we need the commitment from the CIty. The proposed legislation will provide this.
Image courtesy of Knight Arts
“archiTECTONICS” is a solo exhibit at Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery. Below is a description of the exhibition from the Knight Foundation:
“Julie Davidow’s paintings are getting some much-deserved attention at Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery, with the solo exhibit “archiTECTONICS.” Davidow’s handsome and smart art works always add to the tapestry of Miami’s scene wherever they are found.
At Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery, the new paintings revolve around an interesting intersection in contemporary art these days — the relationship between the fabulous designs of new museums and the art within them. Miami should know this process well, while watching MAM build both a serious collection and erect the Herzog & de Meuron, 200,000 square-foot-structure on the Bay. None of this, of course, is blatantly obvious in Davidow’s latest series. Employing materials such as gesso — a white, chalky substance — chrome paint and enamel, Davidow creates canvases that appear both minimal and detailed, an interesting juxtaposition. Here she is taking particular elements in the design of new museums, then focusing in and in a sense framing that aspect. Or, as she describes it, she “samples” bits and pieces, like is done in music. In fact, the art turns out to be very musical. “From an image I use of a building or of another artist’s work,” explains Davidow, “I reduce it to the essential elements that reference its physical structure or composition. This creates the rhythm, beat or geometry of the building or artwork.”
Some of the museums that Davidow sampled include the Denver Art Museum, the Fort Worth Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum, all designed by star architects.
However, even if you don’t follow the thread of the architectural basis to these works, they are lovely in style and composition, and it’s great to see them together in one place in a solo exhibit. On a side note, Davidow has added to Miami’s cultural growth in another way, as the co-author of “Miami Contemporary Artists,” the most comprehensive survey of Miami’s current art scene to date.
“archiTECTONICS” runs through April 7 at the Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts Gallery, 2043 N. Miami Ave., Miami; www.dlfinearts.com.
The Florida International University’s School of Architecture hosts a lecture and exhibit by OverUnder, a collaborative design firm located in Boston. An interesting fact about the firm is that they operate their own gallery known as Pinkcomma Gallery. According to their site, “This gallery aims to foster and recognize a more creative and experimental scene that has grown out of one of the world’s most significant capitals of architectural education.” The lecture will take place at the main campus on Thursday March 8th at 5:00pm. A reception for the exhibition will also be held on their Miami Beach Urban Studio space at 7:00pm. Please see the posters below for more information.
In the spring of 2010, I was fortunate enough to give a small presentation to a group of students from the Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture in Nantes. This opportunity arose from our board member and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Miami, Jean-Francois Lejeune. As it turns out, the students were visiting Miami to propose new ideas and future visions of how the city could change. Spending only two weeks in Miami, they came up with numerous ideas that were supported by drawings and sketches, as well as a unique collection of models seemingly made from any spare materials they could find. The exercise was repeated again in the spring of 2011, and then in the fall of 2011 a contingent of University of Miami architecture students did the same for the city of Nantes.
On March 6th, at the Alliance Francaise located on SW 8th Street, an exposition will take place to showcase the work done by both institutions. This is a unique event that shouldn’t be missed. Please visit their website to find out more about the Alliance Francaise.
Architect Roberto Gottardi, who is one of the architects featured in the documentary film Unfinished Spaces, will lecture at the University of Miami School of Architecture, on March 5th at 6:00pm.
Gottardi was born in Italy and graduated from the Instituto Superiore di Architettura di Venezia (Architecture Institute of Venice) in 1952, the same class as Massimo Vignelli. While there, one of the major influences on his formative style was his mentor Carlo Scarpa, whose craft approach to architecture refuted the tenets of Rationalist Modernism.
Miami Marlins Stadium Tour | Wed., Feb. 29, 2012 – Miami Herald.
Click on the link above for a tour of the Miami Marlins new stadium. Images are from the Miami Herald.
Things are busy at Bicentennial Park; construction continues on Herzog deMueron’s Miami Art Museum, the large tensile structure on the site is from the entertainment group Cavalia (think Cirque du Soleil with horses), and now a new puzzle piece has been inserted, the Miami Science Museum.
The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science broke ground just last week on Friday in what will be known as Museum Park. Designed by London based architects, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the state of the art museum will occupy the northwestern corner of the site and right off the sidewalk. In total, the museum will be a programmed space of 250,000 square feet, which will include a 600,000 gallon aquarium facility, a full dome 3-D planetarium, and a slew of technologically innovative exhibits.
The Miami Art and Science Museums are set to open in 2013 and 2015 respectively. These two buildings could not come at a better time. Miami needs these buildings, as it has fallen behind to other major cities from a cultural and architectural standpoint. Hopefully, Grimshaw and Herzog deMeuron will be able to not only upgrade both of these museums, but elevate the city of Miami to a new global level.
Below is a fly through of the science museum. Enjoy.
Love him, or hate him, Andres Duany knows how to command an audience. His speeches have motivated crowds to the point of excitement and hope, and also to loud uproar and harsh criticism. Regardless, Duany remains a leader in his field of urban planning and community design. As a founder of the New Urban movement, he continues to write and publish while maintaining a successful practice here in Miami. On Monday, March 5th, at 9:30am, Duany will be giving his latest lecture entitled, “Heterodoxia Architectonica”.
The event will take place on campus at the Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center Glasgow Hall, and for more information, contact 305-284-3439. Free and open to students and the public.
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, simply known as the AA, has an exhibition entering it’s final week at the Miami Beach location of FIU’s School of Architecture. The AA is a highly regarded school in London, attracting many international students, as well as high profile architects. It’s alumni include the likes of Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Nicholas Grimshaw and current Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Moshen Mostafavi.
The exhibit deals with the Miami neighborhood, Little Havana and the use of public space. The ethnic enclave gained its name after the influx of Cubans arrived in the 1960′s, settling in the area. Although the populations of Cubans has decreased since then, Little Havana remains home to a high concentration of Hispanics/Latinos, with diverse influences from Honduras, Colombia, and Nicaragua just to name a few. Little Havana’s boundaries hold a hodge-podge of architectural styles; On 8th Street/Calle Ocho, one can find Tower Theater, a 1930′s Art Deco style movie house, only to be contrasted a few streets north with the recently completed, state of the art Miami Marlins Stadium.
Come visit FIU’s Miami Beach Urban Studio’s at the end of Lincoln Road(exact address is on the flyer) to check out this exhibit.
The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life – from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age – has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film since their death dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.
The movie will be shown at Miami’s own O CINEMA. O Cinema is a cutting-edge independent cinema located in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, that specializes in showing first-run independent, foreign, art, and niche market films. With the Miami International Film Festival approaching, O Cinema will host many diverse films being shown. Eames: The Architect and the Painter, is only just a preview of some other great films on architecture and architects that will be shown at the festival.
Unfinished Spaces is a feature documentary scheduled for worldwide release in 2011. It tells the story of three architects who resume their first project—Cuba’s National Art Schools—left unfinished in 1965 when their creative visions came head to head with the political realities of the Revolution.
The National Art Schools were envisioned as an incubator of Latin American artists. The state would provide tuition and costs to whomever was eligible to attend the school. At one point, Castro’s regime had hoped that the National Art Schools would rival those similar programs found in Europe.
The movie will be playing at the Miami International Film Festival. DawnTown board member, Jean Francois Lejeune, will be leading a panel discussion about the film in a limited seating showing at the Freedom Tower on March 4th. Please visit the Miami International Film Festival
The film is directed by Alysa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray
For more information visit Unfinished Spaces
The University of Miami School of Architecture is hosting a series of sessions presented by five international experts and the School’s faculty between February 15 and 24. The Spring Symposia is open to the University community and the public at no charge, assuming seats are available. You may RSVP by calling Carolyn White at 305-284-5002.
The sessions will be on the following subjects:
Below is the School of Architecture’s poster, detailing the events and times for each lecture and the topics covered in each session
Famed Architect To Bring Her Designs To SoBe « CBS Miami.
It’s not entirely new news that Zaha Hadid is building a parking garage here in Miami(Beach), but the above link has an interview with CBS Miami Shannon Hori regarding the structure. Here’s an excerpt from the article,
“The idea was to create a dynamic movement. To use the idea of the movement of the car, which is circular, and then as it moves up, begins to shift, to give it more dynamics,” Hadid said. But don’t expect Hadid to park there. She doesn’t have a license. She said she considers that her biggest failing in life. Hadid, who now oversees a staff of 300, first started vacationing in Miami 10 years ago. She said she looks forward to having her own design in a city she loves.
With Hadid’s new garage proposal to match up against Herzog & deMeuron’s 1111, there are still plenty of Pritzker Prize winning architects that can still use Miami as the testing ground/guinea pig for automobile parking. Who knows, maybe Jean Nouvel will get his shot next year.
Revival on the Horizon for Historic Miami Marine Stadium | News | Architectural Record.
Click on the above link to read about the status on the Miami Marine Stadium where we are fortunate enough to receive a small, but important mention. We are happy over the potential good news on this project, and we are very happy our efforts helped push this one of kind marvel into the international spotlight. Kudos to you David Sokol at Architectural Record, and Don Worth, Hilario Candela, and Jorge Hernandez at Friends of Miami Marine Stadium. Here is the excerpt from the article:
The preservation efforts have paid off. In July 2010, Miami’s city commissioners approved a new master plan for the island conceived by Candela and FMMS cofounder Jorge Hernandez, with help from students at the University of Miami School of Architecture. The stadium is the centerpiece of the redevelopment scheme. The movement to restore the venue got another boost last year when a local architecture competition organizer, Dawntown, unveiled the winners of an ideas competition to design a new floating stage for the arena.
-David Sokol, Architectural Record
