Resilience - University of Miami School of Architecture

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master planning critique make bigger plans Virginia Key as Tropical Marine Research Hub While there is some interacon between RSMAS and the federal facilies, there is potenal for much greater integraon of these instuons given the overlap in their respecve missions. The Miami master plan for Virginia Key focuses primarily on redeveloping the parks to increase their recreaonal potenal. However, the opportunity to develop a more integrated community of top-level marine research and educaon facilies holds potenal for creaon of an economic development node which could help diversify Miami’s service oriented economy. A similar node for medical and biotech research is being developed with involvement by the University in the area of Jackson Memorial Hospital. tropical research hub as economic development opportunity Miami is the major metropolis of the Caribbean, and as such is a center for tourism, but also for banking, trade, health care, higher educaon and research. The adjacency of RSMAS to federal tropical research facilies, and the potenal for Seaquarium and MAST Academy to deepen the rigor of their missions, gives Virginia Key unique potenal to emerge as regional center for tropical coastal science. In addion, the natural resources of the key, and the urban infrastructural challenges of the wastewater treatment plant and former landfill provide an ideal laboratory for research on resilient and restorave coastal development. This cluster of academic and federal research facilies exists in only four other places in the United States: La Jolla/San Diego, Monterrey, Seale and Woodshole Massachuses. In all of these locaons, the concentraon of marine research acvity has drawn other related academic and economic interests, and has a significantly benefied the local economy through the creaon of highwage technical jobs, and increased aracveness to educated entrepreneurial residents. These places are models of economist Richard Florida’s asseron that the most dynamic economic growth will occur in areas which combine natural beauty, dynamic urban culture, and high level economic opportunity (Florida reference) While this project does not aempt to develop a revised master plan for Virginia Key, or the RSMAS campus, the principles which guide it will be an integraon of the values expressed in the various exisng plans. Not intended as a comprehensive list, the following are some important principles which will guide the design. as per rsmas planning documents • Create a more unified and hierarchical campus experience. • Expand and organize facilies for research (both indoor and site based). as per miami-dade county comprehensive planning • Respect and enhance ecological funcon as per Miami-Dade County comprehensive planning. as per cty of miami virginia key master plan • Enhance public access to waterfront. • Create opportunies for non-motorized circulaon throughout the Key. addional principles • Enhance visual and funconal connecon between campus and surrounding urban and natural resources. • Enhance potenal for programmac interacon between exisng instuonal uses. • Encourage development of the enre key as a laboratory for urban ecological research. 24
6. Site Analysis Summary Perhaps because of the newness of the school, and the newness of its city, the Campus of the University of Miami began as a laboratory for forward thinking instuonal planning and architecture. Post-war Miami enjoyed a luxury of space and cultural youth which allowed for the development of the sprawling modernist Main Campus. The campus has become a verdant counterpoint to the densifying city around it. While similar architecture has been employed for the Rosensel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, the physical context is quite different. Situated on approximately six and a half acres at the southwest corner of Virginia Key, the school overlooks Bear Cut and the mangrove fringe of Key Biscayne. Occupying filled land at the edge of the bay, the Rosensel site epitomizes Miami’s juxtaposion of fragile marine ecosystems with urban development. Within the campus, the concrete buildings which provide a backdrop for green on the Main Campus are almost enrely surrounded by parking and roadway. Casual building placement fails to create posi- ve outdoor spaces on the small site. Despite its spectacular seng, the physical campus is an underwhelming home for a globally renowned center of the marine environment. Currently, several smaller buildings block visual, and to a certain extent physical access to campus waterfront. Access to views, and connecon to water for funconal research purposes will be an important design consideraon. Ecological consideraon of the land/water interface will provide an addional criterion by which to evaluate sing consideraons. relaonship to virginia key Finally, the Rosensel School should take beer advantage of its locaon. A relavely undeveloped tropical island is a rare and valuable thing, even more so at the center of a major metropolis. The interiority of the campus and buildings within should be reversed, and RSMAS should seek a way forward which engages its surrounding community and ecology. increase richness and intensity It seems that there is potenal to create a much more vibrant human center, while also enhancing the campus open space and its relaon to surrounding natural context. If the UM Main campus can be seen as a park, an area of vegetaon, openness, and relief from the city, I can envision the RSMAS campus as the opposite – a dense, rich cluster of complex human acvity, set against parks and open space (figure 1). um main campus rsmas The exisng campus was developed in a somewhat ad-hoc manner, where buildings were added over me based on available space, but without any overriding spaal organizaon. The two largest buildings line the east and west edges of the site, and are of more recent construcon, presumably funconally viable for the medium term. A new wet lab has been proposed and designed to line the north edge of the site. The remaining structures are scaered throughout the middle of the site, and are all considered funconally obsolete. Even the most rudimentary master planning suggests that the core of the site could be opened up to create more clearly defined campus space. Placement of proposed buildings would have to reflect a compromise between ideal future locaon and phased replacement of space in exisng buildings. 1. figure/ground - urban/green 25
Page 1: Resilience An investigation of Trop
Page 5: Table of Contents Overall Objecve .
Page 8 and 9: 2 1. Doherty building and campus wa
Page 10 and 11: esilient community As urban designe
Page 12 and 13: Biscayne Bay Land-Fill Rickenbacker
Page 14 and 15: environmental history As is typical
Page 16 and 17: 10 7. Virginia Key 1960’s, Yehle
Page 18 and 19: one campus. A two level south wing
Page 20 and 21: at that me for academic architectur
Page 22 and 23: uildings: interior • Poorly defin
Page 24 and 25: id building name date sq. . 1101 Do
Page 26 and 27: city of miami virginia key plan Whi
Page 28 and 29: 6. Rendering from Rickenbacker entr
Page 32 and 33: site diagrams relaon to causeway pr
Page 34 and 35: 28 virginia key ecosystem urban •
Page 36 and 37: proposed redevelopment sequence The
Page 38 and 39: campus square footage studies build
Page 40 and 41: “Landscape Urbanism describes a d
Page 42 and 43: 2. High Line route. adapted from go
Page 44 and 45: 8. Venice Hospital model, from Alla
Page 47: Works Cited Abramovitz-Harris-Kings
Page 50 and 51: campus challenges/ proposed solutio
Page 52 and 53: site master plan Hobie Beach To Mar
Page 54 and 55: typical fl oor plans and section la
Page 56 and 57: grosvenor north transformation shel
Page 58 and 59: circulation interior circulaon serv
Page 60 and 61: climate comfort exisng condions •
Page 62 and 63: social interaction exisng condions
Page 64: campus entry existing proposed labo
Page 68: waterfront quadrangles vising schol

Resilience - University of Miami School of Architecture

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