OMA designed three buildings nestled between Miami Beach’s famous Collins Avenue and Indian Creek Drive in Mid-Beach. The project is a significant contribution to the Faena District, a $1.2 billion project covering six blocks and integrating dynamic cultural, residential, hotel, retail, culinary, and public environments.

OMA’s structures are all governed by independent programs: the Faena Forum with flexible theater uses, the Bazaar that retrofits a historic hotel with curated retail and event programming, and a state-of-the-art car park. Shohei Shigematsu, partner at OMA and the director of its New York office, led design efforts on the project.

A central focus of the new district is the Forum, which opened on November 27. The building is composed of two volumes—a cylinder and a cube—that are similar in size and can be combined or subdivided to support any type of production, from projects and commissions to performances, exhibitions, and events. A circular stair that descends from an impressive 46-foot cantilever denotes the main entrance. This leads up into the lobby of the building, which the architects elevated in response to concerns over rising sea levels. The design move freed up ground-floor space for loading functions and helped to provide a canopy along Collins Avenue. The architects explained that this extended the public domain into and under the building. Shigematsu said the formal strategy of the Forum’s radiused, cantilevered facade was inspired by the firm’s research into urban planning principles. “The Forum’s circular plan enables the public domain to expand, activating pedestrian movement within the district,” he said. “A 45-foot cantilever allows the landscaped plaza to slip under the Forum along Collins, providing a dramatic sense of arrival.”

Faena Forum
3300-3398 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL
Tel: 305-534-8800
Architect: OMA