Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/417885
ON THE WATERFRONT Miami has no shortage of natural, public spaces—so why aren't they being used? A coalition of developers and architects has plans to change that. BY JULIA COOKE 150 CULTURED Miami is not known for being pedestrian-friendly. But with a new proposal for a project that's being called the Biscayne Line, a five-mile bay-front promenade loosely inspired by New York's High Line, a coalition of local developers and architects are aiming to change that. "Great cities are made of great public spaces," says the Related Group's Carlos Rosso. "And we're trying to make Miami a great city; it has untapped public spaces on the water—which is incredible." "We often don't realize Miami's magnitude and beauty from a pedestrian level," adds Bernardo Fort-Brescia, founder and principal of architecture firm Arquitectonica. "The context is lost because buildings block the view or because we see the bay from a car and seldom up-close." Rosso and Fort-Brescia have been at the helm of raising support for the speculative project among a key group of Miami decision-makers, and it seems to be working. Rosso's development company started off by setting aside waterfront space for the Related Group's new condo buildings, Icon Bay and Paraiso Bay, earmarking the areas for public parkland. "This is more than civic-minded—it's good business sense," says Rosso. "In Miami, the ruling misconception that a public waterfront would mean loss of privacy or value for residents is plain wrong, he explains, pointing to luxury developments such as Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro or along the waterfront parks on Manhattan's evolving West Side. Another challenge, says Fort-Brescia, is that older projects are grandfathered into their spaces without public access to the waterfront. Apart from perception and a few key plots of land around which designers would have to work, Rosso says, "It's not so much about bricks and mortar. It's about showing Miami that this is feasible and important to the city." Once the waterfront is united, whether by land acquisition or creative connections, the final step will be to generate a unified design for the proposed five-mile stretch. This design, says Fort-Brescia, will account for and embrace the diversity and variety of the different neighborhoods along Biscayne bay and the different types of properties facing it: private homes, condominiums and hotels, but also vacant lots, the Miami Women's Club, the Pérez Art Museum and more. The experience of the Biscayne Line, he explains, will evolve out of the conditions of the properties themselves, but will also provide visitors a varied experience along its long stretch. "It will connect the Upper East Side with Downtown and Brickell," Fort-Brescia says. "Finally, one can connect neighborhoods by other means than cars or buses. It's our version of the High Line, but on grade and next to the bay—even better."