Miami Art Museum

Miami, FL

The Miami Museum of Art is located within the ambitious new Museum Park Master Plan, a large waterfront redevelopment that includes the new Miami Museum of Science and substantial public outdoor space. The building is designed to extend the park into the museum by means of a large shaded outdoor terrace accessible to the public. The museum itself is an open-air structure of carefully arranged platforms and columns supporting a broad roof seventy feet above, shading the entire terrace and much of the site. The roof and platform are broken into a series of planes that allow controlled light to penetrate deep into the building and parking level. The shifting planes also define distinct zones for various public uses, calibrating the degree of enclosure and expanse to the physical needs of each function. A grand staircase running the full width of the site connects the museum to a waterfront promenade. The building is made up of precast concrete roof panels, cast in place concrete building elements and an architectural concrete façade. Despite the warm climate, large gallery volumes, and the need to provide proper a climate to maintain the art, energy use is mitigated by both the roof canopy and the use of a complex floor displacement air conditioning system.

Size: 115,000 sf

Completion: 2013

Architect:
Herzog & De Meuron

Handel Architects LLP Engineer: Arup (Structural and MEP)