Miami Beach: The Latest Architecture and News

Following the controversial decision to scrap plans by OMA earlier this year, Miami Beach officials have selected Arquitectonica for the redesign of the Miami Beach Convention Center. In a significant scaling-down of OMA's $1 billion masterplan, the new scheme calls for the existing center to be kept and renovated to 'Class A' standards, along with the addition of a new ballroom, meeting space and rooftop parking. The center's existing parking lot will be converted into a 6.5 acre public park, designed by landscape firm West 8.

More on the Convention Center Controversy after the break

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Miami Beach city commissioners have unanimously agreed to abandon the $1 billion redevelopment of its 52-acre convention center district, which aimed to radically reinvent the area. This decision comes just six months after the city awarded developer South Beach ACE and OMA the bid after an international, highly-publicized competition that pitted OMA against BIG.

“For the purposes of getting this project done fast, on time, on budget, it’s unfortunate that we’ll have to make a very tough, challenging decision,” said Miami Beach Mayer Philip Levine, “To some people, it’s a little disheartening. To other people, it’s a very fresh start.”

As reported by the Miami Herald, the city plans to reinstate a bid for the renovation of the city-owned convention center as well as another for the development of a nearby hotel. Under the new bid, the city will no longer be required to attain 60 percent of voter approval to build. By doing this, Levine believes the renovation will be expedited.

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South Beach ACE, the collaborative team made up of Tishman, a national real estate development firm led by Dan Tishman; international architecture firm OMA, led by Pritzker Prize winning architect Rem Koolhaas; and Miami Beach developer Robert Wennett, were just announced by the Miami Beach City Commission as the winning team in a competition to redevelop the Miami Beach Convention Center and the surrounding 52-acre site. Looking forward to bring the project to fruition, the team firmly believes a renovated convention center, adjacent hotel, and re-imagined convention center campus are critical to Miami Beach's ability to maintain and grow its desirability as a tourism and convention destination. More images and the team's description after the break.

Foster + Partners have released new images of the luxurious, 18-story Faena House currently being constructed in Miami. The project, which is commissioned by Argentinean developer Alan Faena who is best known for transforming Buenos Aires’ abandoned Puerto Madero neighborhood into the city’s most vital culture center, will mark the first phase of the anticipated Faena District Miami Beach. Once complete, the district will include a five-star hotel, a large and versatile Arts Center, an OMA-designed parking complex, a luxury retail complex, and a marina.

The Miami Beach Convention Center, a giant box of a building constructed in 1957, is in desperate need of a makeover and two design teams have bravely accepted the challenge. Team 1 is dubbed South Beach ACE (Arts, Culture, Entertainment District) and is a collaboration between Rem Koolhaas's OMA firm, Tishman, UIA, MVVA, Raymond Jungles and TVS. Team 2 goes by the name of Miami Beach Square and includes BIG, West 8, Fentress, JPA and Portman CMC. Both proposals completely re-imagine 52 acres of prime beach real estate and cost over a billion dollars in public and private funds. So, who does it better?

Vote for your favorite after the break...

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• Architects

  TEN Arquitectos

• Location

  321 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, USA

• Owner

  AGM Aria

• Are

  78,000 ft2

• Proyect Year

  2012

• Photography

  Courtesy of TEN Arquitectos / Hartness Visions

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