Claudio Salazar, AIA, LEED AP

Role: Architect/Designer/Project Manager at Nichols, Brosch, Wurst, Wolfe & Associates. 

Civic Center Apartments. Miami Florida

The Miami River and many of the water bodies around Miami are integral part of the City's history and economy. As a consequence, the City's development has gradually influenced their flow, their geography as well as their chemical composition, affecting especially the coral ecosystems. Coral sediments are found all around Miami almost as reminder of our past. The project proposes using that past as a connection to our natural environment but through the lens of an electron microscope. Our exploration into these microscopic worlds inspired us to use geometries not only as functional openings or wall patterns in our building but also to root the neighborhood to the history of the place and to inspire public awareness of the fragility of marine life. Large openings in the parking podium composed of glass fiber would be manufactured with custom cuts and lined in the interior with aluminum cladding that would reflect different qualities of light during the day. The intention is to reflect subtlety the activity at the ground and reflect the sun rays that is filtered through the large oak trees on the site. The hard concrete “shell” (symbolizing a coral exoskeleton) of the parking garage protects the more fragile interior life inside the building.

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