DAWNTOWN SEAPLANE COMPETITION | Miami Beach [Honorable Mention]
The competition brief called for a design of a seaplane terminal on Watson Island.
The project is a large roof which hovers above the programmatic elements. It responds in size to the cruise ships and the large buildings that define Biscayne Bay, both in Miami Beach and Downtown Miami.
The roof’s primary purpose is to protect from the elements. The space that is defined by the roof appears to be engulfed in shadow, to provide an escape from the Miami sun into an atmosphere of darkness. The shimmering water will reflect onto the underside of the concrete roof and sounds of the gentle waves created by the cruise ships will be amplified yet contained. Changes in the tides reinforce a temporal experience as varying water levels would be registered onto the concrete piers.
The roof is considered to be a single plane which is folded down to become vertical supports. The supports directly respond to the size of the program. The plane is further compressed and folded in the East-West direction, in order to produce ridges for lateral support. Light wells are introduced in strategic locations by further manipulating the geometric form.
