MIAC | MIAMI ART CENTER

Allapattah, miami, fl

MIAC, or Miami Art Center, is located within the up-and-coming arts district of Allapattah in Miami, FL. Formerly a produce market and collection of warehouses, this 35,000 SF building will be adaptively reused into an ecosystem for art. The building will support art exhibitions, art viewing, textile fabrication, art storage, outdoor sculpture gardens, and fine dining.

Inspired by Allapattah itself, the design celebrates new program by transforming the structure into an “art warehouse.” Considering storage’s importance in the heritage of place and also in the new development, the tectonics of storage systems are made use of in the building’s façade through the implementation of a gabion wall system. These gabion walls utilize the same metal mesh used to store art, but instead wrap to form an enclosure of infill concrete fragments from nearby demolished buildings. In this way, the otherwise discarded material is repurposed in an environmental way on the building façade.

In order to soften this expansively paved property and reduce the heat island effect, the front layer of the site will become a garden threshold which will help to transition visitors from the street to the building. Landscape here will also provide a valuable buffer from an unsightly electrical way-station across the street. At the rear, a former service alley will be replaced with a sculpture garden and outdoor dining. The objective with these various landscape and site improvements is to increase canopy coverage, reduce impermeable hardscape surfaces, and ultimately reestablish Miami’s local flora in this industrial district.

This single-story building’s extensive roof plane will be utilized for solar power generation. Strategically located skylight clerestories will reduce electrical loads for the facility by bringing in ample indirect light.

MIAC will be a hub where artist and curator can collaborate on world-class contemporary exhibitions. The building will elevate fine art in the City of Miami and further establish Allapattah’s role as an indispensable cultural destination.

AWARDS

2023 AIA Miami Merit Award for Unbuilt Less yhan 50,000 Square Feet