Faena District | OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Located in Miami Beach, the Faena Forum enjoys a unique site that stretches between Indian Creek and the Atlantic beachfront. OMA has designed three buildings for the three block site along Collins Avenue - an arts center, retail bazaar and car park. These distinct functions are linked by a sequence of public domains including a plaza, courtyard and marina dock.
Partner-in-charge, Shohei Shigematsu commented: "Culture is at the core of Faena's vision, and has been the driving force for our collaboration in Miami Beach. By curating their neighborhood with programmatic diversity, Alan's sphere of influence will likely extend beyond this development to the rest of Miami Beach."

The Faena Forum is divided into two volumes - a cylinder that accommodates gathering spaces and a cube of hotel and meeting rooms. On the building's third level, an Assembly Hall occupies both the cylinder and the cube. Since each volume has a distinct form and character, the two halves of the Assembly Hall can be used separately on in combination for a variety of uses. Below the cylinder, an exterior plaza along Collins Avenue is formed by removing a "wedge" from the front of the building. The cantilever, which shelters and shades the outdoor plaza, is supported by a structural facade of white cast-in-place concrete with high performance glazing infill panels. The solid cast-in-place concrete elements of the façade both accommodate the structural needs of the building and orchestrate key views to the surrounding buildings and the waterfronts. Along the building's north edge, the cylinder and the cube are smoothly joined to accommodate circulation and structure as well as a balcony accessed via the Assembly Hall.

The Faena Bazaar is a renovation of the historic Atlantic Beach Hotel, built in 1939 and designed by prominent Miami Beach architect Roy France, whose work includes the Saxony and Versaille opposite the site. The Bazaar preserves and restores the existing lobby and facades, while reprogramming the building for retail.

Parking for the Forum and Bazaar is located on the third site with a mechanical system for maximum efficiency. Elevators transporting vehicles between levels are exposed on 35th street, while a facade of angled perforations allow for adequate airflow with controlled views.

Shohei Shigematsu Statement:
As the cultural core of the Faena District, the Forum provides a focal point to the neighborhood and to the mid-Beach zone at large. The ensemble of three buildings – the Faena Forum, Faena Bazaar and Parking—enrich Faena’s hotel and residential components along Collins Avenue, providing a dynamic symmetry between the district’s cultural and commercial programming across Miami Beach’s main thoroughfare.

The existing site presented three distinct conditions for the three distinct programs– a large, wedge shaped site for the Forum, a protected historic art deco hotel for the Bazaar and an empty lot allocated for parking. Although the Faena District enjoys a unique location spanning two waterfronts, the cultural components were positioned on the quieter, residential zone along Indian Creek rather than the activated Atlantic beachfront.

The Forum claims the heart of the complex by addressing this urban context with two volumes that generate distinct frontages toward Indian Creek Drive and Collins Avenue. Embedded within the residential zone west of Collins, the Forum’s cube and cylinder achieve the same intimate scale as the Bazaar and Park. The Forum’s circular plan enables the public domain to expand, activating pedestrian movement within the district. A 45-foot cantilever allows the landscaped plaza to slip under the Forum along Collins, providing a dramatic sense of arrival.

The combination of the Forum’s classical dome space with a black box theater in the main assembly space provide the ultimate flexibility for the diverse programming of Faena’s multifaceted ambitions. Combined, the full layout has the capacity for large scale events. Independently, the spaces can be divided to host distinct events, with dedicated acoustics and arrival. The Forum represents endless possibilities to host a range of events - from concerts to conventions; roundtable discussion to banquets; intimate exhibitions to art fairs- all within a single evening. Liberated from obligations to operate as a strictly institutional or a strictly commercial entity, the Forum presents a new typology for interaction, leveraging the ambiguous advantage of Faena’s redefinition of culture.