The project, an iconic ten storey building, will be located on the edge of the expanding Miami art district and next to one of the busiest highways in the city. It will serve as a state-of-the-art storage facility for valuables and art collections from museums and private collectors in Miami, as it operates as a vehicle to support and showcase local artists.

The program will include storage, exhibition and work areas, offices and a luxury vehicles storage facility. It will also offer different garden areas – at the ground level and at a private elevated garden – as part of a plan to generate spaces for the exhibition of sculptures as well as the creation of spaces for art fairs and art-related events.

The building’s shape and exterior appearance – the play of volumes and the implementation of façade­ graphics – responds to different formal and functional requirements: The idea of breaking the severity of a blank volume and avoiding a mute box as seen in other storage facilities, and the desire of promoting art at a large scale in the city by using the building’s exterior as a means to showcase local artists and support Miami’s emerging talents. The simplicity of the built form will be then contrasted against the richness of the vivid collage produced by the graphic pieces.

The building will be constructed with simple and efficient concrete pre-cast construction techniques. It will incorporate the use of specialized humidity control systems and high-end monitored digital surveillance technology to ensure the safety of the collections in storage. It will also benefit from the use of green passive and active systems which will minimize the consumption of energy and enhance the quality of the project.

ARCHITECT: Oppenheim Architecture + Design (OAD), Miami, Florida, USA, www.oppenoffice.com. LOCATION: Miami, Florida. DESCRIPTION: high-tech art and valuables storage facility. STATUS: On going. AREA: 90000 square feet. DATE: Estimated completion 2010.

CREDITS & COPYRIGHTS: Oppenheim Architecture + Design (OAD)
No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.