Architects: OMA
Location: 3398 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33140, United States
Partners: Shohei Shigematsu, Jason Long
Associate In Charge: Jake Forster
Area: 90922.0 m2
Project Year: 2016
Photographs: Iwan Baan, OMA, Kris Tamburello
Concept Design – Design Development : Project Architect: Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Paxton Sheldhal Team: Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Lawrence Siu, Francesca Portesine, Ravi Kamisetti, Ted Lin, Jesung Park, Anupama Garla, Andy Westner, Daniel Queseda Lombo, Andrew Mack, Caroline Corbett, Denis Bondar, Ahmadreza Schricker, Darien Williams, Gabrielle Marcoux, Marcela Ferreira, Jenni Ni Zhan, Lisa Hollywood, Paul Tse, Sarah Carpenter, Carla Hani, Sean Billy Kizy, Simona Solarzano, Ivan Sergejev, Tamara Levy, Matthew Austin, Ben Halpern
Construction Documentation Construction Administration: Project Architect: Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Paxton Sheldhal (BOS|UA), Team: Yusef Ali Denis, Slava Savova, Cass Nakashima, Ariel Poliner, Jackie Woon Bae, Matthew Haseltine, Salome Nikuradze, Simon McKenzie
Project Management: Gardiner & Theobald, Inc., Claro Development Solutions
Architect Of Record: Revuelta Architecture International, PA
Landscape Architect: Raymond Jungles, Inc.
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Structural Engineer: DeSimone Consulting Engineers
Mep & Fire Engineer: Hufsey Nicolaides Garcia Suarez Consulting Engineers
Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates
Elevator: Persohn Hahn Associates
Acoustic: Electro-Media Design, Ltd., Stages Consultants, LLC
Exterior Building Envelope: IBA Consultants, Inc.
Parking: Tim Haahs Engineers
Theatre Consultant: Stages Consultants, LLC
Food Service Consultant: Clevenger Frable and Lavallee, Inc.
Architectural Concrete Consultant: Reginald Hough Associates
Life Safety: SLS Consulting, Inc.
Security: Security Industry Specialist, Inc.
From the architect. As the cultural core of the Faena District, the Forum provides a focal point to the neighborhood and to the mid-Beach zone at large. The ensemble of three buildings – the Faena Forum, Faena Bazaar and Parking—enrich Faena’s hotel and residential components along Collins Avenue, providing a dynamic symmetry between the district’s cultural and commercial programming across Miami Beach’s main thoroughfare.
The existing site presented three distinct conditions for the three distinct programs– a large, wedge shaped site for the Forum, a protected historic art deco hotel for the Bazaar and an empty lot allocated for parking. Although the Faena District enjoys a unique location spanning two waterfronts, the cultural components were positioned on the quieter, residential zone along Indian Creek rather than the activated Atlantic beachfront.
The Forum claims the heart of the complex by addressing this urban context with two volumes that generate distinct frontages toward Indian Creek Drive and Collins Avenue. Embedded within the residential zone west of Collins, the Forum’s cube and cylinder achieve the same intimate scale as the Bazaar and Park. The Forum’s circular plan enables the public domain to expand, activating pedestrian movement within the district. A 45-foot cantilever allows the landscaped plaza to slip under the Forum along Collins, providing a dramatic sense of arrival.
The combination of the Forum’s classical dome space with a black box theater in the main assembly space provide the ultimate flexibility for the diverse programming of Faena’s multifaceted ambitions. Combined, the full layout has the capacity for large scale events. Independently, the spaces can be divided to host distinct events, with dedicated acoustics and arrival. The Forum represents endless possibilities to host a range of events - from concerts to conventions; roundtable discussion to banquets; intimate exhibitions to art fairs- all within a single evening. Liberated from obligations to operate as a strictly institutional or a strictly commercial entity, the Forum presents a new typology for interaction, leveraging the ambiguous advantage of Faena’s redefinition of culture.