Archinect - Features

Cosmic Architecture: Studio Christian Wassmann's Sun Path House

2020-05-25T09:00:00-04:00

A monumental spiraling concrete wall takes on structural, functional, and sculptural purposes in a three-story Brutalist addition to a 1930s bungalow in Miami Beach.

Brillhart Architecture’s Eponymous House Pays Homage To Florida's Architectural Vernaculars with a Tropical Modern Flare

2020-03-19T18:52:00-04:00

The South Florida-based architecture practice Brillhart Architecture has cemented itself as the region's experts on Florida's local building traditions by highlighting its roots within the realm of Tropical Modernism. Within Florida's humid, rainy climate, Brillhart founders, Jacob and Mellisa Brillhart, emphasize the importance of incorporating the surrounding landscape into their buildings while also working to fine tune each space's ability to evoke emotional responses from its occupants.

One of the firm’s most recognizable and celebrated works is the duo's own private residence, the Brillhart House. When asked about the details and motivations behind the project, they explain, "The design for our house relies on a back-to-the-basics approach – specifically studying old architectural models that care about good form but are also good for something. Each design decision was organized around four central questions that challenge the culture for building big: what is necessary; how...

Bridging Between Locations and Modes of Practice with Miami-based Cúre & Penabad

2020-03-11T13:16:00-04:00

Adib Cúre and Carie Penabad are two Miami-based architects who work nimbly across project types and between practice and academia. Their firm, Cúre & Penabad Architecture and Urban Design, is responsible for a collection of sensitive and pragmatic projects that are infused with color, rich materiality, and elemental forms, aspects that are driven by the architects' close relationships with builders and clients.

Both are active in academia at the University of Miami School of Architecture and use their teaching as a foil and fuel for their built work, and vice versa. For the latest Studio Snapshot, Archinect connected with Cúre and Penabad to discuss the firm's triumph over the Great Recession, the legacy firms they look up to, and how their 10-person team works successfully between projects in Miami and Latin and South America.

Miami's Urban Robot Associates on Creating Fun, Multidimensional Architecture

2020-03-10T13:28:00-04:00

Miami-based Urban Robot Associates strives to create memorable projects within the realms of landscape, hospitality, residential, and interior design. Led by Giancarlo Pietri, Sebastian Velez, Justine Velez, and JJ Wood, the firm's work showcases a mix of formal playfulness and meticulous, detail-oriented design.

Founded in 2009, Urban Robot Associates has since become one of Miami's powerhouse firms as the team pursues its stated goal of creating "something memorable that's also multidisciplinary in nature, while also referencing the context within which we design."

For this week's Studio Snapshot, Archinect chats with JJ Wood and the rest of the team as they collectively share their experiences of running and growing an integrated, design-oriented architectural practice .

Berenblum Busch Architects on Exploring the Constraints of Miami's Climate

2020-02-28T15:31:00-05:00

When running an architectural practice, most architects can attest to the profession's fair share of rewards and obstacles—many variables factor in starting and maintaining a practice, after all. For Miami-based duo Gustavo Berenblum and Claudia Busch of Berenblum Busch Architects, the decision to start their own firm stemmed from the 2008 recession. "Although the great recession was very much present in 2010, in a way, it created a space for us to breathe and think about the future. We decided then to do what we always dreamed of: to have our own firm," the duo explains.

For this week's Studio Snapshot, Archinect chats with Berenblum and Busch as they share how they stay focused and inspired while also working in a city that is as fast-paced as Miami. From their expertise in port design to accommodating Florida's environmental constraints, both architects express their passion for the profession and what keeps their firm going.

Canal House by Studio MK27 Captures a Tropical Miami

2020-02-26T15:21:00-05:00

Brazil-based Studio MK27, led by Marcio Kogan, is known for its authentic blending of modernism with the Brazilian regional aesthetic, often seen through cantilevered horizontal lines, louvered walls, and organic materials. While not in Brazil, this Miami-based property, called Canal House, captures a similar feeling.

Miami's Alexis Cogul Lleonart of Doo Architecture on Picking Up Where Tropical Modernism Left Off

2020-02-19T14:17:00-05:00

Ask anyone who has ever visited Miami and you'll hear that the city has a certain energy and vibrancy that's reflected in the built environment there. When one thinks of this region, for example, it's likely that visions of Tropical Modernism and luxe design come to mind. It's at this delightful intersection that Barcelona-born Alexis Cogul Lleonart is able to apply his dual degree background in urban planning and architecture to help shape Miami's architectural landscape.

After collaborating with various practices, including Miami's Oppenheim Architecture, Lleonart sought out to use his expertise and start Doo Architecture. According to Lleonart, "We believe in the process. We're engaged from inception to execution, and we believe our European roots taught us to develop a dialog with our clients and projects further than 'what is required.'"

For this week's Studio Snapshot, Archinect connected with Lleonart to discuss his intellectually curious practice and what it means to work p...

Searching for the Elemental and Straight-Forward With Oppenheim Architecture

2020-02-14T10:00:00-05:00

Oppenheim Architecture is a Miami-based architecture, interior design, and planning firm that maintains a second office in Basel, Switzerland. The 40-employee practice works across residential, luxury hotel, office, and retail project types within a variety of international contexts and brings a precise and elemental character to the work it takes on.

The firm, which started in 2000, is going strong after two decades of hard work, according to founder Chad Oppenheim, mainly because it allows the design team "to do projects the way we wanted to." Oppenheim adds, "The practice is much more about creating a platform for expression."

That expression might take the shape of a high-rise, glass-walled condominium tower, a concrete-walled office complex, or even, a beautifully sculptural waste water treatment plant. Regardless, what results is sure to enliven the senses and increasingly, bring new energy to surrounding areas, whether that is Miami's Design District or a remote landscape in...

Thesis Review: Beatriz Santos Challenges the Built Environment to Redefine Urban Identity Through Nature

2020-02-12T09:00:00-05:00

Thesis Review is a collection of conversations, statements, and inquiries into the current state of thesis in academia. Thesis projects provide a better understanding of the academic arena while painting a picture for the future of practice. Each feature will present a contemporary thesis project through the voice of those who constructed it.

This week, we chat with Beatriz Santos from the University of Miami and her thesis titled, "Garden Cosmologies: Curated Nature in the Contemporary City." Santos shares the challenges of thesis and the stressors one faces when finding ways to develop, and ultimately defend, one's project. For Santos, the intention to focus on garden typologies stemmed from a curiosity about the relationship between architecture and human interaction with the built environment.

Thesis is a moment that not only challenges but also reinforces one's architectural perspective. Santos explains that "as the urban fabric continues to change in order to accommodate the...

Want to Land that Interview? It All Comes Down to the Portfolio, says Leadership at Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture

2019-02-14T11:19:00-05:00

Since it's founding almost twenty years ago, Oppenheim Architecture has grown into an award-winning firm with a diverse array of projects spanning over 25 countries. Headquartered in Miami—with additional offices in New York and Switzerland—the firm has done so through promoting and supporting the professional and personal development of its talented staff that continues to grow.

What does OA expect from job applicants when it's time to hire new employees? In Archinect's latest “How To Get A Job At ____”, the firm's Director of North American Operations, Timothy Archambault, discusses the importance of a strong portfolio and the most common mistakes applicants make.

Jacob and Melissa Brillhart of Brillhart Architecture Discuss Florida's Architectural History and The "Chemistry of Space"

2019-02-11T16:30:00-05:00

Jacob and Mellisa Brillhart have established their place in South Florida's architectural history through their emphasis on vernacular building principles. Tapping into the area's roots of Tropical Modernism, the duo emphasize the importance of construction methodology in designing sustainable structures for hot and humid climates. The studio's design process utilizes a blend of analog and digital techniques, all while incorporating natural materials found within Florida's landscape.

For this week's Studio Snapshot, the founders of Brillhart Architecture share the importance of uncovering what makes up the emotional qualities of a space. By reflecting on their built works, the two discuss the importance of drawing inspiration from their surroundings and Florida's vernacular architecture.

Faulders Studio's Wynwood Facade Highlights Street Art in Miami's Dynamic Parking Structure Scene

2016-11-10T13:59:00-05:00

An eight-story parking garage and mixed-use office building becomes an ever-changing reflection of its street art surroundings with Faulders Studio's modifiable Wynwood Facade.

Come rain or shine: reviving collective urban form with the GSD's Office for Urbanization

2016-09-16T12:17:00-04:00

In architecture, city-wide design concepts have a checkered history: public housing projects and century-old zoning ordinances seem to have created almost as many problems as they were intended to solve. And yet, the dream of the collective urban form may be restored with the work of the Harvard Graduate Design School’s new Office for Urbanization. Headed by landscape architecture professor Charles Waldheim, the Office for Urbanization is currently tackling the problems of sea level rise in Miami Beach, but the scope of its research is unearthing a promising new realm of possibilities.

DesignMiami: The infiltration of ArtBasel Miami Beach, December 8-10, 2006

2006-12-20T18:08:00-05:00

The distinction between art and design is certainly becoming more and more of a vague science. Last week, Miami played host not only to ArtBasel, but also to its little sister art fair: DesignMiami . Under Zaha Hadid’s amazing Elastika installation in the Moore building deep in Miami-’s design district, eighteen galleries curated mini-exhibitions of architectural elements, furniture, and various objects d’art. The traditional rules and customs of fine art were in full effect here, making us wonder if the traditional retail environment still holds court in the world of high design.

by Zoë Coombes