Pérez Art Museum Miami

The museum stands in a waterfront park in a redeveloping downtown, beside a science museum and a major freeway. Because of its closeness to the water, it is lifted off the ground so that the art sits above storm surge level, and the space beneath is used for open-air parking that can also handle storm water.

Rising from the parking level, the stilts that carry the museum platform become columns supporting a shading canopy over the whole site, a veranda-like public space that welcomes visitors to the museum and the park. Hanging gardens fall from the canopy, and together with the roof they create a microclimate that softens the gap between outside and inside temperatures.

The expansive windows are recessed, with timber planks under the concrete beams to reduce the sun on the glass and the energy used for cooling. The massive concrete walls are chiselled in places and polished in others, smooth beside the glazing and rough where they face out. A custom concrete mullion system holds very large hurricane-proof glass, and at the heart of the building a stair as large as a gallery links the two exhibition levels.