PEREZ ART MUSEUM MIAMI
(PAMM)
HERZOG & de MEURON
2013
(PAMM)
The museum was opened on 4th December 2013 and had suffered some controversy surrounding its naming after a majority investor. Mr Jorge Perez donated a reported cash and personal collection deal worth around $40 million.
The building sits on exposed columns and these lines play vertically and horizontally across the outside of the building.
These stilts lift the building off the ground and this is reported as being a fundamental site specific direction in the architectural concept behind the building.
This lifting is to address the heat and heavy hurricane storms that affect the area.
The play of lines is also echoed by columns of hanging plants which add to the softening of the building. These are also viewed from the inside of the building via the continuous glass that opens the halls onto the outside.
External spaces and level openings onto small gardened plots invite visitors to sit and experience views over the bay.
The building presents discrete spaces and staggered exhibition halls that create a much softer and organic experience of a building for Miami. While also dispelling the idea of the "White Cube".
Each hall is open to the outside but contained sufficiently to support their exhibited works.
Repeated materials and organic surfaces connect the inside and outside. Secluded seating areas with external views allow visitors to rest during their visit.
The project's design and progress was overseen by Chritine Binswanger and carries the reported "lightness" that is her signature.
