Six Buildings by World Famous Architects in Miami
Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Herzog and de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, Bjarke Ingels and Renzo Piano all built in Miami. Where each building is, what to look at, and how to see them in one day.
Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
· 4 min read · Last reviewed
Key takeaways
- Six architects whose work usually means a flight to Europe or Asia have buildings in Miami: Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Herzog and de Meuron, Rem Koolhaas, Bjarke Ingels and Renzo Piano.
- Two of them sit in Museum Park downtown, three are in Miami Beach and one is in Coconut Grove, so all six fit in a single day.
- Each building answers the same Miami problems a private house has to answer: sun, wind, water and the view.
- Looking at how a famous architect handles shade, structure and the edge between inside and outside is the fastest way to train your eye before reviewing plans for your own home.
Editor's note
Some of the most influential architects working today have built in Miami, often within a few miles of each other. This is the short guide we send to anyone who comments STARCHITECT on our reel: who designed what, where it is, what to look at, and how to see all six in one day.
Zaha Hadid Designed One Thousand Museum Downtown
One Thousand Museum is a residential tower on Biscayne Boulevard by Zaha Hadid Architects. Its white exoskeleton curves up the corners of the building and carries much of the structure on the outside, which frees the interior floors from heavy columns.
What to look at: how the curves thicken at the base and thin out as the tower rises. It reads as decoration from a distance, but it is the structure doing the work. Our article on Zaha Hadid and Miami covers why her buildings were called impossible for years before they were built.
Frank Gehry Designed the New World Center in Miami Beach
The New World Center is the home of the New World Symphony, designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2011. From the outside it is a calm white box with a tall glass front. The famous Gehry curves are inside, visible through the glass at night.
What to look at: the projection wall facing SoundScape Park, where concerts are broadcast outdoors to people sitting on the lawn. A building that lets the city watch what happens inside is a design decision about the edge between public and private, the same decision every house makes at its front door.
Herzog and de Meuron Designed the Pérez Art Museum
The Pérez Art Museum Miami, known as PAMM, was designed by the Swiss firm Herzog and de Meuron and opened in 2013 in Museum Park, across from One Thousand Museum. A wide raised platform sits under a deep roof canopy, with hanging gardens dropping from the edge of the roof toward the terrace.
What to look at: the shade. The entire veranda is built around keeping people comfortable outdoors in Miami sun, with air moving off the bay. It is the clearest public example of what a deep overhang does in this climate.
Rem Koolhaas and OMA Designed the Faena Forum
The Faena Forum in Miami Beach was designed by OMA, the firm led by Rem Koolhaas, with partner Shohei Shigematsu. It opened in 2016 as a cultural venue in the Faena District on Collins Avenue, combining a cylinder and a cube with very few visible supports.
What to look at: how the openings in the facade are cut to control light inside an event space. Every opening is placed for a reason, which is the same discipline that decides where glass goes on a private elevation.
Bjarke Ingels Designed Grove at Grand Bay in Coconut Grove
Grove at Grand Bay is a pair of residential towers on South Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. Each floor rotates slightly from the one below, so the towers appear to twist as they rise.
What to look at: the rotation gives each residence a different angle on Biscayne Bay. It is a large scale version of the question we ask on every lot in the Grove: which way should each room face. Our piece on orienting a home for Miami light explains how we answer it on a private house.
Renzo Piano Designed Eighty Seven Park in Miami Beach
Eighty Seven Park is a residential building in North Beach by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the studio of the Pritzker Prize winning Italian architect. It sits between the ocean and a public park, and its glass façade is designed to open the interiors to both.
What to look at: how lightly the building meets the ground and how much of the view it keeps for the residents. Piano's work is a study in restraint, which is also the core of what makes luxury architecture read as luxury.
See All Six in One Day
Start downtown in Museum Park, where the Pérez Art Museum and One Thousand Museum face each other across the lawn. Cross to Miami Beach for the New World Center and SoundScape Park, continue up Collins Avenue to the Faena Forum, and keep driving north to Eighty Seven Park in North Beach. Finish in Coconut Grove at sunset with Grove at Grand Bay over the water.
Every one of these buildings had to solve the same things a private home in Miami has to solve: sun, wind, water and the view. That is the standard we hold ourselves to on every residence we design and build in Coconut Grove. If you want to see how it translates to a house, start with four residences, four ways to live in Coconut Grove.
Pull quote
You don't need to fly to Europe to see great architecture. You need a free afternoon in Miami.
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Questions about buildings by world famous architects you can see in Miami
01Which famous architects have buildings in Miami?
Zaha Hadid designed One Thousand Museum downtown, Frank Gehry designed the New World Center in Miami Beach, Herzog and de Meuron designed the Pérez Art Museum Miami, OMA with Rem Koolhaas designed the Faena Forum, Bjarke Ingels Group designed Grove at Grand Bay in Coconut Grove, and Renzo Piano designed Eighty Seven Park in Miami Beach. The route section puts them in driving order.
02Can you visit these buildings?
The Pérez Art Museum Miami and the New World Center are public venues with regular hours and performances. One Thousand Museum, Grove at Grand Bay and Eighty Seven Park are private residential towers, so they are best seen from the street, the park or the water. The Faena Forum hosts events and can be seen from Collins Avenue.
03Where can I see Zaha Hadid's work in Miami?
One Thousand Museum sits on Biscayne Boulevard facing Museum Park, and its curved exoskeleton is visible from the park and from the bay. Our article on Zaha Hadid and Miami goes deeper into her work and why it took the world so long to build it.
04Is there famous architecture in Coconut Grove?
Yes. Grove at Grand Bay, the pair of twisting residential towers by Bjarke Ingels Group, stands on South Bayshore Drive overlooking Biscayne Bay. Coconut Grove is also where Luxom designs and builds its private residences, which you can see in four residences, four ways to live in Coconut Grove.
05What can a homeowner learn from these buildings?
Every one of them solves sun, wind, water and view in a visible way. Learning to read those decisions on a famous building makes it easier to ask the right questions about your own plans. Our architecture terms guide gives you the vocabulary to do it.
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Written by Luxom Studio · LUXOM Developments
The design and development studio behind LUXOM residences in Coconut Grove, Miami
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