Collins Park Garage

Miami Beach, Florida | 2021

The story of Miami Beach, and the Collins Park neighborhood, can be told through the names, places, buildings, geographical features, events and institutions that have generated a singular sense of place here.

Arts & Letters is a project-based installation that transforms this 513-car city garage and its breathable, perforated aluminum skin into a poignant word matrix that represents the collective memory of the neighborhood as a distinct cultural place. The recollection of the City’s founders and builders, its hotels and landmarks, its residents and tourists, its creators, architects and developers offers a significant contribution to the neighborhood through the development of a garage.

The word matrix directly addresses Collins Park, a cultural center for the city that includes the Bass Museum and Miami City Ballet, as well as the Miami-Dade Public Library and multiple smaller arts organizations. A simple metallic skin becomes a literate façade, organized as matrices in the style of a crossword puzzle or word jumble. The garage activates the collective memory of Collins Park and Miami Beach by evoking its principal environmental and historical features.

Design Architect: Shulman + Associates
Architect of Record: Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners
Design Builder: KVC Constructors
Landscape Architect: Kimley-Horn
Sustainability: Sequil Systems
Structural Engineer: Hershell Gill Consulting Engineers
Facade: Poma Metals Photographer: Emilio Collavino

Client: City of Miami Beach

Awards:

2023 AIA Florida Citation / New Work 2023 International Parking & Mobility Facility Design Award of Excellence 2022 Better Beach Award: Bronze / Innovative Architecture 2022 Better Beach Award: The Green Award 2022 Florida Parking & Transportation Association Award / Category I: Parking Structure - Design and Architecture