Museum Garage

One of the most innovative neighborhoods in the United States is the brainchild of Miami Design District developer Craig Robbins and his company DACRA. DACRA, along with its partner, L. Callerton Real Estate, created the new Design District, an impressive masterpiece in urbanism not seen before in the United States with its newest addition and recent unveiling of the Museum Garage.

The 7-story, 800-car Museum Garage serves as the gateway to a stunning collection of luxury boutiques and high-end restaurants in the Design District and the neighboring Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). Norman and Irma Braman created the ICA and were major players in bringing Art Basel to Miami.

DACRA and L. Callerton Real Estate commissioned architect Terrence Riley to oversee and curate the Museum Garage project. The concept was to incorporate innovators from around the world to create their unique façade on the structure. The design of the façade celebrates social interaction, sustainability, art, music, and landscape. Riley, whose architectural firm K/R collaborated with

renowned architects and artists, drew inspiration from the surrealist parlor game, Cadaver Equis (Exquisite Corpses). The surreal parlor game involves a collection of images assembled by various artists with no regard or knowledge of what the other artist has drawn. It is all assembled into one playful image with components that do not necessarily match but flow together as one playful composition.

The architects and artists chosen for this innovative endeavor include WORKac architectural firm from New York City, with principals Amale Andraos and Dan Wood; J Mayer H. Architects from Berlin; Nicolas Buffe, a French artist from Paris who lives in Japan; Manuel Clavel Rojo of Spain’s Clavel Arqutectos; and Terrence Riley of Keenen/Riley architects, with offices in both New York and Miami Design District. Since the beginning stages of the Design District, Riley has been involved in the creative design, strategic planning and conceptualization of the district, alongside Craig Robbins.

The ultimate design of the Museum Garage was inspired by Miami’s automotive landscape, the city’s continuous construction projects and unending barricades. The barricades, inspired by Bob Barricades, and seen throughout Miami for decades, was Riley’s inspiration for his façade. The design was initially created to be the entrance to the garage, but when the Cadaver Equis was unveiled, Riley chose Nicolas Buffe’s design, with its larger than life animal gargoyles greeting visitors as they enter the garage. Museum Garage is as precise as its name. It is a garage, but it’s also a contemporary museum. Its masterpieces of art, hanging vertically on it façade, consist of five amazing works of art and architecture that were created by some of the most extraordinarily talented, passionate visionaries of our time.

Barricades, Terrence Riley (Keenan/Riley Architects), inspired by Miami’s continuous construction and automotive landscape and its ubiquitous orange and white striped traffic barriers. The faux barriers are turned right side up and form a brightly colored screen. The façade has fifteen “windows” framed in mirrors and stainless steel, through which concrete planters pop out above the sidewalk.

Urban Jam, Clavel Arquitectos, from Spain created their façade by depicting the rebirth of urban life in Miami. In it new construction sprouts side by side with the old. Referring to the urban growth of Miami and its traffic jams, 45 car bodies rendered in silver and gold metallic are suspended in a gravitydefying positioning to depict 45 cars caught in a surreal traffic jam.

Serious Play, Nicolas Buffe. A French-born artist living in Japan, Nicholas is the only non-architect to be invited to play in the Cadaver Equis game. His work features a variety of different 2D and 3D elements crafted from laser cut metals and fiber resin plastic. The composition reflects Buffe’s childhood passion for video games and Japanese animation. The result is the unexpected juxtaposition of Anime, Tokusatsu, Japanese manga and video games, along with classical Renaissance and love for Baroque and Rocco.

XOX (Hugs and Kisses) J Mayer H. Architects, Berlin-based architects, created their façade with huge interlocking puzzle pieces that nestle at the corner with the forms of WORKac’s façade. The“XOX” enigmatic forms, with bold striping and bright colors, recall the aerodynamic shapes of automotive design and appear to float above the sidewalk below. Smaller volumes, covered in metal screens, project outward and are activated with embedded light at night. J Mayer H explained that he decided on the name “XOX” because his work hugs the facade of WORKac and kisses Buffe’s Façade.

Ant Farm, WORKac, New York City-based, principals Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, created a façade that faces east on NE 1st Avenue. It celebrates the social interaction and sustainability of art and music and also includes “DIPPIN” a street art panel by New York artist Jamian Juliano-Villani commissioned by WORKac and the Design District. The ant colony-inspired façade places an emphasis on public spaces and resembles an ant farm of public activity while providing visual contract, shade, and protection.

Miami’s Museum Garage is located on the corner of NE First Avenue and NE 41st Street. The masterpiece of eye-catching contemporary works of arts that are gravity-defying is a must-see when in Miami. Simply park your car in this museum of garage and enjoy the art and design of world-class architects and artists. At only $3.00 for the first

four hours, parking here is undoubtedly the best bang for your buckthat you will find in Miami Design District!Welcome to the Design District! ¨

For more information in the Design Districtwww.miamidesigndistrict.net. For Tours: The Design DistrictExperience @ www.theartexperiences

Written by Susana Baker

Photography by Armando Colls