Miami Worldcenter
Miami World Center is a mall and entertainment district in downtown Miami, FL, planned and designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. As a member of the design team, I managed the parametric aspects of the project, including the exterior skin systems and skylight enclosures. I collaborated very closely with the client, as well as our engineers, consultants, and design-assist manufacturers from schematic design to full working drawings. I was also responsible for the planning and design of the Bloomingdale's amenity spaces.
Client: Forbes and Paramount
Location: Miami, FL
Size: 30 acres of planned parcels; 450,000 sq. ft. retail, dining, entertainment, and office program
Design Phase: participated during Design Development and Construction Documents, project completed in 2019
Principal-in-Charge: Howard Elkus
Project Managers: Michael Cohen and Phillip Wilkenson
Design-Assist: Zahner Engineering Systems (skin) and Gartner Permasteelisa Group (skylights)
Architect of Record: ODP Architects
The above rendering, produced in conjunction with EMA's in-house rendering team, looks down 7th street towards Bloomingdale's, the 7th Street Plaza, and the Marriott complex beyond.
SKIN CITY
For approximately a year and a half, I played a large role in the development of the metal panel skin system on this project. I was involved in modeling, detailing, presenting, and working intimately with both the client and our design-assist consultant, Zahner Engineering Systems. The client desired a cohesive "look" along the exterior of the project as a means of orientation and of branding the district. They wanted flash, so we gave them flash! It was a fantastic way to personally hone my communication skills and develop a repore with members of the team outside of the office. We built a 60' high, full-scale mock-up at their plant in Kansas City, MI, to test the rigidity and the aesthetics of the proposed systems. It served as a great tool for testing schemes with the lighting designers and material suppliers.
Diagram of panel modules surrounding upper levels of mall complex.
rendering of folded metal panel system
RENDERING OF MOCK-UP BEFORE ERECTION
PHOTOGRAPH OF real MOCK-UP IN KANSAS CITY
RENDERING OF MOCK-UP BEFORE ERECTION
photograph of MOCK-UP LIGHTING STUDY
2ND STREET GALLERY
The main shopping avenue at MWC is called the gallery, which serves as the central spine for the entire mall complex. We designed the gallery's skylight to reflect to the fluidity of the programmed spaces below, and I built the digital model to be parametric and easily adaptable. We went through many, many, (many) iterations of its form. Working with the Gartner, an engineering and manufacturing firm based in Germany, was an invaluable experience. Their sensitivity to materials and constructibility was remarkable! Initially designing for a cold-bent glass and steel system, the client opted for a simpler form with triangulated units as the project progressed.
OPTION 1
Curved or flat? Bent or straight? Square or triangle? Rhombus? Option 1 kept it simple, using repeatable diagrid based on the contours of an ellipse. It involved only 6 unique pieces of glass, making it more flexible and affordable, allowing the client to add shading devices and frit patterns.
OPTION 2
Option 2 was more dynamic than Option 1, requiring a definition that optimized the flatness of panels and curvature of its bubbly form. The greatest challenge with this design was the detail at its base connection, which involved coordination between the architects, mechanical engineers, structural engineers, and lighting designers.
7TH STREET PLAZA
7th Street Plaza was a truly challenging piece of the MWC puzzle. The plaza is a part of an open-air pedestrian street, covered with a sister skylight to the main gallery skylight. I was responsible for generating the model and adapting its form and construction to ever-changing constraints. Again, coordination among team members outside of the office was a critical part of its realization.
Skylight at 7th Street Plaza and Bloomingdale's roof rendering, produced in conjunction with EMA's in-house rendering team.
transverse section of 7th street plaza.
longitudinal section of 7th street plaza.
coordination drawings produced by gartner for final gmp .
BLOOMINGDALE'S - STUDY, STUDY, STUDY
We spend many hours in the iteration process like most architects do, but these studies take the cake. I personally generated 26 separate and distinct concepts for this anchor retail facade. Nothing went to waste -- now these are locked away for future use.
