Faena Forum
It is just a few months to go before the collaborative idea of Rem Koolhaas’s OMA and Alan Faena hits the Miami art landscape to change it forever and ever. The architecture studio has just revealed another set of the current construction images of the Faena Forum arousing the eagerness of many, who are awaiting its completion.
Faena Forum. Image © Iwan Baan
“Miami doesn’t need one more museum,” Ximena Caminos said, who is the Forum’s executive director as well as the Mr. Faena’s companion. “It needs something different. The Forum is designed to be flexible. I compare it to a sports car. If you want to turn the wheel, you can.”
Faena forum isn’t going to be a museum but a multidisciplinary cultural centre which will be flexible enough to conduct a multitude of events like dance, theatre, political debates, lectures and more from time to time.
Faena Forum. Image © Iwan Baan
The small size and wedge shape of the site were itself challenging and didn’t allow the architects for a grand majestic building. However, the client wasn’t looking for that anyway which worked to their advantage. Hence they decided to spread the building mass and came up with volumes of a cylinder and a cube. These are interconnected but act as independent entities. The Pantheon of Rome was the source of inspiration of the cylindrical volume which also features a dome topped by a centrally glazed occulus. This dome can be combined or subdivided as and when required depending on the activity it is used for. A walkway connecting it to the street runs along the perimeter and allows for different perspectives of the city and the shore.The cube consist of two large interlocking spaces and comprises of an intimate black box theatre and green rooms.
“Miami is the perfect interaction point between the North and South, but projects rarely move in the direction from South to North,” Mr. Faena said. “We’re representing a region, a voice and a way of living.”
Faena Forum. Image © Iwan Baan
