Introduction The team of the European Cultural Centre chose Miami,
Florida, to organise its first Architecture exhibition titled
“TIME - SPACE - EXISTENCE - MIAMI 2021”. In the last 20
years Miami has experienced an extensive boom of
high-rise architecture and with the arrival of Art Basel
Miami in 2002, the city has been placed in addition as
a fixture in the art circuit.
Our exhibition presents past, ongoing and future
projects, sometimes even dreams, from local and in-
ternational architectural firms, institutions and academ-
ics. A reflection upon the fundamental topics of TIME,
SPACE and EXISTENCE in architecture in Florida and
other parts of the world.
At the Miami Center for Architecture & Design (MCAD)
in downtown Miami and the Florida International Univer-
sity (FIU: SOA - MBUS), the European Cultural Centre
presents a group of 20 architects and institutions; and
a solo-exhibition of the renowned architect Denise Scott
Brown, titled “Wayward Eye”. Her exhibition features her
photos taken between 1956 and 1966 that illustrate Scott
Brown’s explorations into urbanism, Pop Art, and the
emerging architectural language of roadside America.
“TIME - SPACE - EXISTENCE - MIAMI 2021” presents
a cross-section of architectural projects and thoughts
that can impact our lives in a positive way for a better
future together. Architects show us how to take advan-
tage of the benefits of our environment, how to create
a more sustainable way of living and try different ap-
proaches when designing buildings. They show us a
direction where we could all go. A sincere dialogue,
stimulated by differences, will hopefully lead to a height-
ened awareness and thoughtfulness when dealing with
architecture. Opportunities to reflect on where we are
standing now and how we can learn from the diversity
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of approaches across the continents. Architects, think-
ers and decision-makers, often respond to environmen-
tal issues that shape our way of living by creating a new
design language, as sincere as possible. By building
social communities, public spaces, innovative buildings
with specific structures, sometimes provocative designs,
they elevate our human living conditions by developing
a sense of community within a built environment.
In addition, the ECC - Italy team organised in Chicago
the symposium “Shaping the City: A Forum for Sustain-
able Cities and Communities”, organised in collaboration
with the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Shaping the City
was first held in Venice in 2018, followed by a second
edition in 2021. Shaping the City tackles contemporary
urbanisation and key issues in the city, presented through
the perspectives of a group of academics, urban planners
and designers, architects, policy makers, and scholars.
Through diverse presentations and panel discussions, the
forum confronts the fundamental topics of shaping the
cities in the world. The discussions that take place in
Chicago recognise the significant role that urban planning
and design play in moulding the interaction of people
with their cities and their wellbeing. The forum sets forward
new thoughts around the rights to the city, through a
spatial, pragmatic, yet inclusive and sustainable approach.
In addition, the TIME - SPACE - EXISTENCE video
series, presents Grandmasters of Architecture, iconic
architects of our time such as: Curtis Fentress, Denise
Scott Brown, Arata Isozaki, Peter Eisenman, Daniel
Libeskind, Odile Decq, Bjarke Ingels, Moshe Safdie and
others. We asked them to reflect on the suggested
topics and how these concepts sketch out the contours
of the world around us.
                  Nina Comini