Archive for the 'Skyscrapers' Category

Urban Design Malpractice: Marina Blue

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on December 3, 2007
in Arquitectonica, Biscayne Boulevard, Condos, Construction, DDA, Hyperion, Malfunction, Marina Blue, Miami, Pedestrians, Skyline, SkyscraperCity, Skyscrapers and Urban Design
. 10 Comments
Marina Blue, the “swanky,” 60 story residential skyscraper rising along Biscayne Boulevard across the future site of Museum Park has issues, major issues. The 600+ foot tower, designed by world renowned Arquitectonica is just one of the latest blunders to rise in our city. Now please don’t be confused, but we’re not arguing about its height, size, or density but rather how this building was designed to interact with our urban streetscape. It’s because of the inadequacies of its design that many Miami activists confuse height and density as the real culprits behind much of our urban problems…

Take a look at these pictures, found on Skyscrapercity and see if you can spot any of the major issues:

Incomplete building? Designed well from 3 angles, the Marina Blue design team apparently fell asleep when working on the western facade. A blank, exposed backside will greet visitors viewing the Miami skyline from the west, a stark contrast from the stunning blue and green glass facade facing the Museums and bay. Another Arquitectonica and Hyperion development building, Blue, up in the design district suffers from the same 3 sided design syndrome…

Who needs public transit when we have enough space for every car? Logically, the best thing to place facing a metromover station is the entrance of the 12 story parking garage with enough space to handle at least the 2 cars each of the 516 units owners will have. Forget creating usable retail space fronting the metromover, the patron’s of this building will likely be arriving at the valet station anyway, it’s not like they have any other reasonable option anyway…

Of course, if we aren’t going to plan for the use of public transit then why would we expect pedestrians to access the building either? Beyond the absurd canopy placement, the 3 foot elevated platform will completely decimate any hopes of creating a vibrant and pedestrian friendly boulevard. The second picture shows just exactly how much width was provided for sidewalk cafes and activity, none of which will be possible thanks to the blank wall and guardrails which are placed accordingly to keep Marina Blue residents and visitors in.

A Couple of reminders of what we should have been attempting to do with the redevelopment along the Biscayne boulevard corridor:

Note: This picture is still prominently displayed on the DDA website…

I can’t help but think that for every step we take forward (dense urban living in an easily accessible location) we take two steps backwards (building enough parking to house a dealership and failing to adequately integrate the building with the surroundings…)

Height isn’t everything…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 2, 2007
in Alhambra Tower, Allen Morris Company, Architecture, CBD, Coral Gables, Height Limits, Pedestrians, Skyscrapers and Urban Design
. 6 Comments
Building height isn’t everything. A recent comment reiterated the importance of that statement in my mind today. Sometimes skyline and skyscraper enthusiasts (developers too, but their motivations are fueled by ego and profit) become so fixated on heights of buildings that they seem to forget about some of the finer qualities of the buildings we should want to have rising in our city. Forget thousand footers, we need quality designs, street level interaction (sidewalks, public spaces, foliage, shops, transit connectivity, etc.,) and most importantly no parking pedestals (which interestingly enough is contingent on the previous two…)For example, the Alhambra Towers, pictured above, is the latest recipient of the “City Beautiful Award.” I can guarantee that it wasn’t the Alhambra Towers’ status as the tallest building in Coral Gables which garnered the praise, but rather its ingenious, unique design. The Alhambra Tower is dominant, purposeful, and iconic, all without becoming too imposing on the neighboring structures or the pedestrians below. It compliments the surroundings and creates a sense of semblance at the awkward five-point intersection created by Alhambra Circle, Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Alhambra Plaza. The structure falls in line with George Merrick’s original intentions for the Coral Gables business district, tastefully resembling his first major structure, the Biltmore Hotel, which was itself inspired by the Sevilla Tower. Alhambra Tower was built by the Allen Morris Company and designed by ACI Architects of Winter Park, Fl. The front tower was built to resemble the Giralda Tower in Sevilla, Spain, pictured below. To read more, click here…

One Bayfront Plaza Rising

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 31, 2007
in Architecture, FECR, Office, One Bayfront Plaza, Skyline, Skyscrapers, Terra Architecture, Tibor Hollo and Urban Design
. 11 Comments
One Bayfront Plaza is poised to become Miami’s first super tall (1000′) and truly iconic skyscraper. With the recent approval by the City Commission, the 2 million square foot office development is ready to proceed through the initial stage of pre-construction. The $1.8 Billion project will feature 2 million square feet of leasable office space, 120,000 square feet of exhibition or banquet space, 112,000 square feet of retail, and a 850 room hotel. The project is slated to break ground in 2011 and has attained preliminary approval to rise to 1,049 feet (roof) and 1,180 feet to the top of the spire…
One Bayfront Plaza is being developed by Florida East Coast Realty (Tibor Hollo) and was designed by Terra Group Architects. Frankly, I’m impressed by the eastern facade of the structure but dismally disappointed by the initial designs of the west side, pictured above. The two structures appear to be disjointed and fail to compliment each other accordingly. Hopefully, the west tower will be subject to further redesigns to make this a visually appealing structure from all angles, not just the east…

Synthetic Skyline

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 19, 2007
in Flickr, ImageMD, Miami, Photography, Skyline and Skyscrapers
. 1 Comment


Via ImageMD’s flickr…

3D MDC Wolfson Campus Proposal

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 1, 2007
in Chad Oppenheim, MDC, Proposed Tower and Skyscrapers
. 3 Comments

For those of us who can’t get enough of Chad Oppenheim’s possible tower rising at MDC, here is a Video clip of the tower in 3D:


Via Mileageman on SSC…

Illegal Advertising Eyesores

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 21, 2007
in Billboards, Illegal Advertising, Miami, Murals and Skyscrapers
. 5 Comments
The increasing number of advertisements appearing on nearly every rising structure in the Miami Skyline is alarming, let alone visually assaulting. Almost every building has some sort of tarp-like advertising perched on its side, plastered with the face of D-wade or some product you have absolutely no interest in to begin with. It seems that everyone has their own version of how to create a time square in Miami; I can assure you this isn’t it. The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County are finally working to draft ordinances which would place greater fines on property holders and limit the number of these illegal ads dotting our new landscape. If only now they could do something to persuade our Florida Legislature to repeal the ordinance allowing for the removal of trees which are obstructing the sight of permanent billboards.
I took these pictures as I walked around downtown last week on my way to a meeting. The first two pictures depict what these hideous banners look like, typically placed on uncompleted high-rises or on the blank walls of existing structures. The Third picture below is of a recent new addition to the advertising assault: the Mobile ad aka Media Truck. Believe it or not, some people pay large sums of money to have their ads plastered to the side of a truck whose only objective is to drive around and be seen…

MDC Wolfson Campus

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 9, 2007
in Chad Oppenheim, Downtown, MDC, Miami, Miami Dade College, Renderings, Skyscrapers and Wolfson Campus
. 11 Comments
All I have to say is wow! This a step in the right direction…It may be a slight knock off the CCTV building in Asia but this building would add an incredible dynamic to Miami’s Skyline…Its also a Chad Oppenheim Design…
Edit: The Pictures originated from the Chad Oppenheim Design and Architecture website, they were removed and found by TransitMiami on a local forum, originally posted by DGM…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 20, 2007
in Downtown, Miami, Miami-Dade Transit, Pedestrians, Skyscrapers, Transportation and US Marshall
. 3 Comments

I’m in town and I decided to take a trip downtown (as usual) using transit and my own two feet. Unlike our elected officials, I see the need to periodically take the trip around leisurely to experience things first hand and see where things are going wrong (or right.) Today’s trip was filled with urban issues, many random people, and an encounter with a US Marshall for photographing the Federal courthouse complex, so it should be a good read…I’ll be back soon with the story and pictures…

The Miami Office Boom

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 19, 2007
in LEED, Miami, Miami 21, Office and Skyscrapers
. 3 Comments
1450 Brickell, the newest office building in Brickell since the Espirito Santos Plaza, broke ground last week. The 33 story glass tower will feature over 500,000 square feet of office space and is aiming for Silver LEED certification.

Meanwhile, just up the avenue today will be the official ground breaking ceremony on the Brickell Financial Center office buildings at 600 Brickell. The 40 story, 600,000 square foot office building is set to be complete in 2009 and is also seeking LEED certification.

Office Boom Could be a Boon

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 17, 2006
in Construction, Density, Development, Miami 21, Office and Skyscrapers
. 0 Comments

The following is a guest article written by Ryan. This article was written before the Herald’s article yesterday regarding the potentially impending office boom we could soon be witnessing and therefore bears little reference to it. Enjoy.

Greetings and Salutations. I’m Ryan, The Sprawl Hater, and I’ll be dropping by Transit Miami once a week or so to offer my perspective on the oft-frustrating, always complex, but never dull journey that is Miami’s growth and development.

Has anyone noticed something conspicuously missing from the explosive high-rise boom in and around downtown? If you guessed low vacancy rates, you’re probably right. If you guessed a legitimate, centrally located transit hub, you’d probably be right, too. Nevertheless, I’m talking about office buildings, people.

Last I checked South Florida had the worst office sprawl in the country. That’s right folks, worse than sultans of sprawl Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas. A Brookings Institute study in 2003 found that of the 13 largest metropolitan regions, South Florida’s major downtown (MIAMI!) had a mere 13% of the metro’s office space. Even worse, virtually ALL office growth in Miami-Dade since 1987 has occurred out of downtown. HOW COULD THIS BE? Or, more importantly, what is being done about it?

Unfortunately, not enough is being done. With nearly 100 new high-rise or mid-rise buildings finished, approved, or planned between Wynwood and Brickell, you can pretty much count the number of new office buildings on one hand. It’s possible we could have 70,000 more condo units here in only a few more years, so where are the new office buildings to compliment 100,000+ aristocrats professionals living in our city’s elongated, coast-hugging core?

The building on the right in the picture above is Met II, the largest and most noteworthy office building currently approved for construction. It will be between 31-46 floors and is set for completion by 2009 (I’d be willing to take bets on that.) A couple others have been proposed in the Brickell area, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be built – and it still isn’t nearly enough.

This could be a big problem, people. The building boom in and around downtown has been mostly good (sans affordable housing, BayLink, and a delayed Streetcar), but without the offices it runs the risk of becoming a high-density bedroom community. This ultimately defeats the purpose of living downtown: easy pedestrian, taxi, and/or transit access to work and home. An office shortage means demand for parking downtown will remain high (stay tuned for a later post on this quagmire). The last thing we need is people living on Miami Ave. and commuting to Doral office park cities out in suburbia.

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Bling Bling

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 30, 2006
in Brickell, Enrique Norten, Flatiron, Miami and Skyscrapers
. 2 Comments
Amid Miami’s recent construction boom, we have failed to take note of how many famous architects have designed projects in our own backyard. From Cesar Pelli’s performing arts center to a new performance hall for the New World Symphony on Miami Beach by Frank Gehry. World renown architects are leaving their mark on the Miami Skyline (similar to the 80’s when I.M. Pei and Skidmore Owings and Merrill, left there respective buildings; the Bank of America and Wachovia Financial Centers.) Miami based architects have even gained some national attention including Arquitectonica and Chad Oppenheim.

We’re doing it big down here in the Magic City. We realize that our building boom isn’t just about adding density and urban life to our city, but, about adding substance, culture, and art through new architectural designs. Our skyline will continue to define the ‘Magic City’ as new and innovative skyscrapers continue to rise (hopefully, in a well planned, organized manner), such as Enrique Norten’s Flatiron building pictured above. In Miami, the sky is the limit, well, unless the FAA imposes some new meaningless restrictions on upcoming developments…