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Photo: Robin Hill |
When the 79,042-square-foot South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay, Fla., opened in October 2011, the southern part of Miami-Dade County received its first state-of-the-art cultural venue and community gathering place. Designed by Arquitectonica International Inc., Miami, the $51 million performing arts venue is made up of two buildings-the three-story theater building and two-story activities building.
Plans for the new cultural arts center date back to 1992, after Hurricane Andrew devastated south Miami-Dade. At the time, Commissioner Dennis C. Moss developed a comprehensive vision, called “Plan Moss,” to revitalize the area. In 1994, 6.34 acres was purchased to locate the new cultural center, and in December 2005, the county gave notice to begin construction on the project.
An integral part of the area’s economic and cultural development, the center offers quality artistic programming and community accessibility. Managed by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the center receives funding support from the Office of the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. The new center is dedicated to presenting and supporting arts and culture, while providing access to the arts to the entire Miami-Dade County community.
The main 71,504-square-foot theater building features a 966-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium with fly tower, orchestra pit, front-of-house spaces (box office, lobby, restrooms, concessions, etc.), back-of-house support spaces (dressing rooms, storage and work areas, administrative offices, etc.), and a multipurpose rehearsal space/black box theatre. Meanwhile, the 7,538-square-foot Activity Building has lab/experimental theaters, and is used for classrooms, rehearsals and small-scale performances. Joining the two buildings is an outdoor promenade with a gently sloping lawn for festivals, arts shows and other outdoor activities.
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Photo: East Coast Metal Group of Miami |
The Spirit of Movement
While designing the performance hall, the designers at Arquitectonica used the metaphor of applause throughout. To create the central architectural motif, the designers envisioned hands clasped together in applause, pulled ever so slightly apart. This idea was realized with two folded planes that wrap around the sides of a vast glass façade, as in an embrace. “The idea was to create a design that would pay homage to the act and art of performance; movement in particular,” says Laurinda Spear, FAIA, ASLA, LEED AP, principal of Arquitectonica. “The buildings reflect the spirit of movement, moving the patron through a visual as well as physical experience, making the patron a performer.”
Welcoming guests with a metaphorical tip of the hat, an angled, ellipse-shaped canopy passes through the curtainwall at the center’s entrance at a 30-degree angle, providing shelter and drawing the audience into the theater.
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photo: East Coast Metal Group of Miami |
The flow of people begins with the monumental stairs and walkways at the exterior of the building and continues through to the brushed aluminum grand staircase that delivers each person to the orchestra level and balcony levels above. “Glimpses of people circulating behind a panelite-screened wall punctured with openings of various sizes at all the balcony levels, reinforces the idea that the building is designed with two prosceniums,” explains Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA, Arquitectonica principal. “The obvious proscenium is the one located within the performance hall as the traditional stage is set; the exterior frame around the full-height curtainwall forms the second, subtler proscenium. The Activities Building continues the theme, creating a proscenium for the practices occurring behind the large glass wall.”
Peeled away from the building’s exterior skin at the acoustical joint, the performance hall reveals a dramatic three-story, vertical space at the balconies. Connecting the different levels to each other is an elliptical elevator. Additionally, the building’s angled plans form the building exterior while reinforcing the sensation of movement.
“The motif of movement is also seen in the ‘rain’ pattern on the exterior, which is carried to the interior,” explains Spear. “Here ‘drops’ seem to cascade down the stucco walls in a random pattern of long and short dashes-some of which are windows-also calling to mind music or dance notations or splashes of paint from an artist’s brush.”
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Photo: Robin Hill |
A Modern Design
The cultural center features a combination of Reynobond with KEVLAR aluminum composite material (ACM) and traditional Reynobond ACM from Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga. Specified for hurricane protection, the ACM panels meet the Miami-Dade County Hurricane Building Code. Using the two materials, the architects were able to create a sleek, modern design. As the ellipse passes through the curtainwall, Reynobond with KEVLAR on the exterior switches to Reynobond ACM, leaving no visible distinction between the two materials. Enclos Corp., Deerfield Beach, Fla., supplied the glass curtainwall, which measures three stories in the theater building and two stories in the activities building.
Using Wet-Seal and Dry-Joint Rainscreen Installation Systems, East Coast Metal Group Inc., Miami, fabricated both cladding materials with a Bright Silver Metallic Colorweld 500 paint finish. The project features 7,288 square feet of 4-mm Reynobond with KEVLAR, polyethylene (PE) core for the exterior canopies, façade and soffits; in addition to 2,000 square feet of 4-mm Reynobond ACM, fire-resistant (FR) core for the interior canopy and soffits. Additionally, 8,331 square feet of 4-mm Reynobond ACM, PE core, in Natural Brush Aluminum was used for the interior of the elevator shaft tower. Reynobond ACM was also used to fabricate the kiosk eyelids, canopy poles, information signs and a marquee LED display.
E&H Steel Corp., Midland City, Ala., supplied the structural steel for the project. The remaining exterior cladding is 2-inch insulated Formawall metal panels from CENTRIA, Moon Township, Pa. There are 10,000 square feet of Light Gray panels installed vertically on the theater building and 9,500 square feet of Light Gray panels installed horizontally on the activity building. The theater building also features 14,000 square feet of Dark Gray panels installed vertically. Additionally, approximately 1,000 square feet of accent colors of red, purple, yellow and orange are installed horizontally on the activity building.
