The University of Miami School of Architecture has announced its participation in a master planning project that will help develop a smart city in the capital region of Guyana, South America.
Both students and faculty from the school will join with others in UM’s Advanced Study of the Americas program, Herbert Business School, School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science to realize the project, which leverages their expertise in the fields of resilient design, sustainable architecture, climate science, nature systems, technology, and more.
'Silica City' is an 11,000-acre planned community of 60,000 people near the Guyana International Airport with residential plots, a city center, an 'Innovation Village' area, and AI-bolstered infrastructure. Preliminary design work has already begun via a new 12-student studio that was taught in the fall by former School of Architecture dean Jose A. Gelabert-Navia, who said: “You cannot develop a city in five months, but we can develop a concept and plant the seeds for a master plan.”
“We are very excited about this project at the School of Architecture,” current dean Rodolphe el-Khoury added, speaking of the tabula rasa that his team will work with under the guidance of the national government. “It is rare to be offered the opportunity to design an entire city from scratch. It is like the chance of a generation.”
Perkins&Will is serving as a consultant on the project, which is informed by an on-the-ground assessment that will be undertaken soon by graduate students Adriana Garcia, Roberto Borberg Mendoza, and Maritere Rodriguez.
Guyana and its capital city, Georgetown, are expected to see an economic boom tied to the country’s considerable oil fields. Its recorded GDP growth of 62.3% in 2022 was the highest in the world, according to the International Monetary Foundation. The task now is to produce a model that can help sustain growth and fuel other projects in aid of a prosperous and democratic future.
Phase One of the project is already underway and will deliver around 100 homes, a golf course, and other amenities on a 3,800-acre land parcel. No other project timelines for Silica City have been announced yet. Archinect will share more updates as they become available.
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