OMA's Faena Forum Opens
John Hill
30. November 2016
Photo: Bruce Damonte (All photographs courtesy of OMA)
Argentinian developer Alan Faena marked the completion of his Faena District in Miami Beach with week-long festivities that included a Carneval-esque parade and site-specific performances inside OMA's Faena Forum, the cultural heart of the new district.
The Faena Forum is one of three adjacent Faena District buildings designed by Shohei Shigematsu and the New York branch of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture; the other two are Faena Bazaar, a renovation of the historic Atlantic Beach Hotel, and Faena Park, a mechanical parking garage. The nearly 43,000-square-foot Faena Forum consists of a cylindrical volume and a black box cube that were "designed as a series of large flexible spaces that can accommodate a variety of events," according to OMA.
These photos give a peek inside the Faena Forum and some of the performances that took place during opening week.
OMA's project is made up of three buildings along Collins Avenue: Faena Forum (corner building), Faena Bazaar, and Faena Park (parking garage). Here, during the opening "processional," they are seen from Faena Hotel across Collins, with Norman Foster's Faena House visible at the right edge. (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
The Faena Forum building, seen here from the north, is a cylindrical volume and a cuboid volume appended to each other. (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
Entrance to the Faena Forum is through a "slice" at the base. (Photo: Philippe Ruault)
A domed space rung by a walkway sits atop the cylindrical volume. (Photo: Philippe Ruault)
A site-specific performance created by choreographer Pam Tanowitz, in collaboration with OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu and with music by composer Dan Siegler, was held during the opening. (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
An operable wall allows the domed space to connect with the adjoining space in the cuboid volume. (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
A window on the west overlooks Indian Creek Waterway (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
