Zaha Hadid Architects has been revealed to lead the design of a new condominium project proposal at a site once occupied by the collapsed Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida.
The project is being commissioned by DAMAC International, which purchased the lot for $120 million in July of last year. Plans call for a 12-story design whose split massing contains 57 total residential units lined by curved balconies and connected at the roof level by a glass-bottomed swimming pool.
Two separate design variations were submitted to local planning authorities for consideration, each based on “alternative interpretations” of planning ordinances, which have come under increased scrutiny in the wake of the 2021 tragedy.
In a statement, ZHA Director Chris Lepine said: “We are honored to have been chosen for this very special project. While no work of architecture can ever remove the pain of the past, nor should it, a truly ambitious work of architecture can respect such a significant site. It’s a great responsibility to be providing this vision for Surfside.”
The firm says its design is characterized by a sculptural form whose façade emulates both the formation of clouds and the ebb and flow of crashing waves, the latter creating a literal metaphor in line with the town’s name and the site’s proximity to the ocean.
Further details include a “contemporary interpretation” of privacy fins in reference to the Miami Modernist (aka MiMo) style. The color scheme incorporated in the façade echoes the sand and sun that is synonymous with the Miami coastline. Finally, interior fit-outs for the condo units (which range between 4,000 and 15,000 square feet) are designed to fit a “variety of living experiences” for each resident.
Speaking of the firm’s proposals, DAMAC’s Niall Mc Loughlin said: “They have raised their own bar once more with these two design variations, expertly weaving together form and space to engage the senses, and create an unrivalled ultra-luxury experience and a true sense of place.”
“We know we cannot replace what was so painfully lost, but it is our desire that the building honors and respects its location at the heart of Surfside’s community and offers a sense of closure to the tragic event of the past while also providing a sense of a new beginning,” he continued.
If approved, this will become Zaha Hadid Architects’ second realized project in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area following the 62-story One Thousand Museum tower, which was completed in 2019.
8 Comments
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Really? How about giving the project to some socially responsible architecture firm? Oh wait, its Miami, FL
Who are the people who'd want to pay money to live there?
Damn that is not pretty.
Try reading this without laughing:
“They have raised their own bar once more with these two design variations, expertly weaving together form and space to engage the senses, and create an unrivalled ultra-luxury experience and a true sense of place.”
I don't know why we're worried about AI when humans can create such prose all by themselves.
Developers' writers write these... Very laughable and equally classist sad talk about wealth, privilege, and supplying the potential buyers with quasi-expert vocabulary on architecture in all but Disney fantasy. This link has all kinds of insanity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugCOLcuf3ZY
“We know we cannot replace what was so painfully lost, but it is our desire that the building honors and respects its location at the heart of Surfside’s community and offers a sense of closure to the tragic event of the past while also providing a sense of a new beginning,”
Ghoulish word salad. Honors and respects its LOCATION, not the lives lost. Offers a SENSE of closure... by encouraging people to live atop earth stained with the blood of innocent victims of greed.
Gross, but not surprising considering the leadership of ZHA.
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