Oak Plaza - Location: Miamis Design District

Cure-Penabad, Adib-Cure, Carie-Penabad, Architecture-Miami, Latinamerican-Architecture, Vernacularology, Architecture-University-Miami-school, AIA-MIAMI, Oak-Plaza

The project sets out to define a true center for Miamis Design District by creating the first public space in the neighborhood. An underutilized parking lot, with
an existing stand of mature white oaks, was transformed into a paved plaza lined by a thin retail building and an adjacent loggia.
Cure-Penabad, Adib-Cure, Carie-Penabad, Architecture-Miami, Latinamerican-Architecture, Vernacularology, Architecture-University-Miami-school, AIA-MIAMI, Oak-Plaza
The walls of the buildings were clad in an undulating pattern of green and blue glass mosaic tiles that transformed the ordinary masonry surfaces into a vibrant
urban mural.
Cure-Penabad, Adib-Cure, Carie-Penabad, Architecture-Miami, Latinamerican-Architecture, Vernacularology, Architecture-University-Miami-school, AIA-MIAMI, Oak-Plaza
Beyond the new plaza, the project proposed a new street which allowed pedestrians to bisect the length of the existing block. The street provided an
unprecedented moment for collaboration. At the onset, the client hired two independent firms to design new retail buildings on either side of the street.

Cure-Penabad, Adib-Cure, Carie-Penabad, Architecture-Miami, Latinamerican-Architecture, Vernacularology, Architecture-University-Miami-school, AIA-MIAMI, Oak-Plaza

Rather than working in isolation, the offices chose to establish a dialogue in the belief that structuing similarities within the urban realm would create a more
memorable street section in striking contrast to the immediate environment which often lacks urban continuity.
Cure-Penabad, Adib-Cure, Carie-Penabad, Architecture-Miami, Latinamerican-Architecture, Vernacularology, Architecture-University-Miami-school, AIA-MIAMI, Oak-Plaza