Ernso Brown

LA. ARCH.
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
LA 214: FIELD STUDY
10/18/15

SOUTH POINTE PARK / HARGREAVES ASSOCIATES

Environmental Week Assignment

prof. Simon M. Bussiere
Prof. Joe Blalock
Discovery:

The restoration of this once underutilized public park has been transformed into a neighborhood and provincial
destination through the carful integration of diversified urban park programs, regional gardens and the restoration
of the native habitats. The site also works well in connecting with the urban circulation systems by unifying its three
edges urban, cruise ship passage and the beach. When visiting this site one gets the feeling that this revitalized
park has become South Beaches center that through the resolution of overlapping cultural, programmatic and
environmental requirements, will contribute to the open space lifestyle in which Miami has seemed to embrace.

South Pointe Park at a glance seems to be just like any other park one might find in any other major port city, but its
not. This park not only acts as a park but as an animated and ecologically sensitive community park in one of the
liveliest and flamboyant towns in Miami. The park has been redesigned from the previous 19-acre park along
Government Cut, which connected Biscayne Bay (Atlantic Ocean coast) to the park by implementing an artificial
inlet; The prevailing site now consists of 22-acres. With corresponding circulation paths the monumental
Serpentine Walk and the Cut Walk runs through the length of the part to provide critical regional connections and
views out to the Government Cut edge and the Atlantic Ocean edge. The sites paths work well in connecting the
Biscayne Bay coast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the site by implementing a Bay-walk which traverses Biscayne Bay
coast, while still providing Beach Walk access along the Atlantic edge. This long linear cut-walk intertwined with the
Government Cut, acts as a datum that rises above the grade of the sites length. When walking on the path one gets
the feeling that the path is its own entity apart from the rest of the sites surfaces. The path seemed to be constructed
from Keystone, a fossilized coral, which helps to tie the site to the oceans natural process of discarding its shells and
sediments upon the shore. In Counterpoint to the strong linear move of the Cut-walk, a serpentine landform with
leisurely twists and turns begins at the Atlantic Ocean Beach Walk, rising up in order to allow dramatic views out
towards the Atlantic Ocean, while still offering access to the top of the pavilion structure before continuing West
towards the Bay Walk.

One another note, the parks planting design theory seemed to reflect the parks various program uses, while still
creating a simple but powerful visual language to define the parks wide range of spaces. The site achieved in
providing viewers with an immediate visual stimulus by the implementation of nearly 400 trees and palms. The sites
recreation spaces sat amongst a palate of Seashore Peplums and what seemed to be drought and salt tolerant
grasses giving the spaces a very natural feel. Along the ocean side a series of man-made dunes and coquina shell
paths lead through masses of native/xeric coastal vegetation, including Sea Oats, Railroad Vine, and Yucca species.
A series of planted Bosques buffers the view both to and from the adjacent residential developments. The Ocean
Drive Promenade space seemed to be planted with what seemed to be Green Buttonwoods, and alternating bands
of flowering native groundcovers. The overall planting design concept for this site makes the viewing experience
within the site and outside of the site very easy on the eye. Transitioning from the Government edge, to the Atlantic
edge flows smoothly together.

The transformation this park underwent not only revitalized the underused space, but it also made South Pointe
Park Regional Landmark, which stands testament to Miamis flamboyant charm. From the perfectly integrated paths,
to the rich vegetation palate, this park is truly the South Pointe in which you would want all to see when coming
ashore from the Atlantic. The angulating site captures the visitor to explore and discover the niches tucked amongst
the serpentine path, and to sit and just gaze upon the captivating dunes which fade into the site. Once this park was
just that, a park, but now this Park is a community, a bridge between the hassle and bustle of Miami and the
peacefulness of the shores edge.
Work Cited:

Architects: Hargreaves Associates

Location: Miami Beach, FL, USA
Architect: William Lane Architects
Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates, Inc.
Local Landscape Architect: Savino Miller Design Studio
Photograph: Courtesy of Hargreaves associates