”This is a very beautiful thing that will look good on the bay,” said Commissioner Natacha Seijas, who said it could compare to Sydney’s signature Opera House in Australia.
Sydney:
Parcel B, Miami:
Evidently Natacha has never visited, let alone seen what the Sydney Opera House looks like. The preliminary designs by Chisholm Architects more likely resembles a cheap imitation Mies van der Rohe house, on steroids. Even then, remotely comparing this thing to any Mies van der Rohe structure is glorifying it far too much; this thing is HIDEOUS folks. What’s more, it’s boxy shape apparently tries its best to pave over the full 4.5 acre park (like most Cuban-American homes in Hialeah…)
”Obviously, the area has changed dramatically from what it was in the past,” said Chairman Bruno Barreiro, fretting that nearby development was leaving the arena without sufficient parking. “I think we might hamper and will hamper the arena if we do not really consider an additional parking structure with amenities on that site.”
Some said it could maintain a park-like atmosphere with the right landscaping. ”You could design these things nowadays with a lot of greenery around the edges and borders, a very friendly pedestrian use,” Barreiro said.
AKA: We’ll skimp out due to cost overruns and plant some Queen Palms…
Now, let’s apply some of the principles learned by the studies conducted by William Whyte on successful urban spaces in the late 1970’s and portrayed in this Month’s BoM.
Blue Circle: First and foremost a successful Urban Park is no more than 3 ft above or below the surrounding pavement, thus making the two flights of stairs necessary to enter the only open space left in the 4.5 acre park and immediate physical and sociological drawback to the urban space. An excerpt:
“Circulation and sitting, in sum, are not antithetical but complimentary. It is to encourage both that the zoning stipulates the plaza not be more than three feet above or below the street level. The easier the flow between street and plaza, the more likely people are to move between the two- and to tarry and sit.”
Red Circle: Large concrete open spaces do not bode well in the Miami sunlight. See those little people walking around in the plaza? Their a figment of someone’s imagination because nobody, in their right mind will be attracted into an unshaded, concrete park, two flights of stairs above street level, and in an area whose eastern bay view is completely obstructed by a blank concrete wall…It’s just not happening. An Excerpt:
“In summer, [people] will generally sit in the sun as well as the shade; only in very hot weather- 90 degrees or more- will the sunny spots become vacant.”
Yellow Circle: Street interaction? Inexistent. There is some foliage provided as Barriero suggested, but its only in place to cover up the monstrous parking garage this building will sit atop. The site is foreboding to pedestrians and the on street parking depicted is highly unlikely, given that a garage is being constructed…
Green Circle: Look at the public access to the Bay. Also Inexistent. It appears that the Museum has taken advantage of the beautiful vistas and has wholly blocked off the easter views to the non-paying public. The covered breezeways on the east side of the building provide cover only to museum patrons.
Heck, we’d do anything to revert to the original plans which included an apartment building attached to an entertainment complex…Anything but an above ground parking structure on prime public waterfront land…Are these people even thinking?
In addition to being a horrible design, I am inclined to ask if we really need another museum about the plight of the Cuban people in Miami. The Freedom Tower is a prime example.
In 1997, the Cuban American National Foundation purchased the Freedom Tower and made it a museum, library, meeting hall, and offices for the organization. Recently the building was sold to a developer who wanted to put a large apartment complex on the site. After protest from community members, the building was then turned over to Miami-Dade College, who has promised to make the building a monument to the Cuban community.
My opinion is that we will already have a building that can be utilized as a museum and library and shrine to the Cuban community in Miami, including the Bay of Pigs operation. I really don’t see a museum with those same goals succeeding a block away on the parcel on the other side of the arena. It seems to me that if that sort of a museum were really successful and profitable, the CANF would not have sold the building to developers. This leads me to be worried as to how successful another museum a couple blocks away would be.
Miami’s waterfront is already home to many blunders and unsuccessful projects that have become eyesores. This museum seems destined to become another of those eyesores.
Steven, You’re a step ahead of us…Ryan will be addressing this in Part 2. Good Call however.
I can’t even believe how fast they are moving on this museum. The Urban Environmental League hasn’t even had time to mount a counter campaign. The original agreement called for a park, why are they not being held to the initial agreement. Why another darn park on the water?
They should put this by Calle Ocho or as steven pointed out the freedom tower. This lack of real planning makes me so angry at the people making decisions.
why do they move so fast with this museum and find to many issues to a project with more potential, like the Miami Art Museum?
1) It’s directly adjacent to the Arena, ergo more convenient parking for event patrons willing to pay lots of money to park because they’ll be able to arrive during a usual summer downpour and go from car to arena without getting drenched. Downtown Miami might have lots of parking, but none of it is actually convenient for arena-goers to use. Besides, Metromover is ALREADY saturated to the breaking point before and after AA Arena events. I’d guess that probably 2/3 of the people who live conveniently close to a Metrorail station ALREADY take Metrorail to events at the Arena. The availability of more premium-rate parking amidst post-game gridlock isn’t likely to attract many of THEM. It’ll just get people who would have paid $15 to park a block away to pay $20 to park on site, instead.
2) The museum is an excuse to fast-track the project. Nobody, and I mean *NOBODY* in Dade County of any political importance would dare to oppose a museum honoring the Bay of Pigs martyrs. It would be political suicide. The museum is a silly idea, but it’s politically impossible for anyone to oppose.
3) The rooftop park as depicted IS awful. At the very least, they need to send someone on a trip to Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco with a digital camera to get some pics of what a real rooftop park should look like.
4) The height and disconnection of the park from Bayshore Drive & NE 8th Street is irrelevant, because nobody will ever be walking along either street ANYWAY unless they’re heading to the park. Nobody has any real reason to walk alongside Port Boulevard, and anyone walking along NE 8th Street will just get on the escalator at some point and go up to the park.
The most ridiculous idea ever, completely absurd! Another pointless museum! If they’re going to make this museum, (a museum in honor of Cuban-Americans instead) it should definitely be somewhere in Hialead, Calle Ocho or in the Freedom Tower NOT on prime land.
Another thing, does Miami not understand the concept of NO MORE PARKING PLEASE and WE NEED MORE GREEN AREAS?! Enough already!