MIAMI Pier Museum

Site: Miami, Florida
Program: Pier Museum
Competition Date: 2008
Collaboration with Dan Spiegel

The Miami Pier Museum is a monument to new connections.  Just as generations of immigrants have crossed multiple thresholds in the process of integrating into a new life in Miami, this monument seeks to reach out back and forth between the city and the sea, creating a link between varied spatial conditions, uses and populations.  Along 5th Street, a grid of sugar cane stalks populate the median, pointing towards the ocean front, directing pedestrians, and subtly reminding the city's inhabitants of the monument beyond the shared immigrant experience it commemorates.  The grid of plants continues beyond 5th Street, peeling upward at the edge of the beach on a light frame structure which extends the path of the monument towards the horizon, and creates a shaded canopy for beach goers, a roof for the museum visitors, and an elevated viewing platform for the public on top of the museum.