DawnTown Design/Build Competition Winner on View in Miami

If you're in Miami these days, make sure to visit the exhibit of Up-Downtown, the winning entry of DawnTown’s inaugural Design/Build competition (previously on Bustler).

Over 110 design teams from around the world had submitted concepts for the creation of a temporary installation on the theme of the “Evolution of Miami.” Up-Downtown, the successful collaboration between Jacob Brillhart (Miami, FL) and Manuel Clavel-Rojo (Murcia, Spain), interactively presents the rapid rise of downtown Miami over an extended period of time.

The exhibition is currently on view at HistoryMiami and still runs until May 12.

“HistoryMiami recognizes the importance of promoting innovative architecture and attracting people to experience architecture in their community with fresh eyes. Up-Downtown and DawnTown’s annual design/build contest achieves all of these goals,” said Joanne Hyppolite, Ph.D., Chief Curator at HistoryMiami.

Up-Downtown, the prize-winning installation is a metaphor for Miami. “A city is a complex machine, where everything is interconnected and any movement affects the other,” said Manuel Clavel-Rojo, co-creator of the Up-Downtown team. “This concept is taken literally to present an interactive story of Miami’s rise. Miami is not a city that has developed steadily over time, but instead has had rapid growth spurts in generally short periods. The most interesting thing about Up-Downtown is how intelligently that fact has been captured.”

The installation features a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ box structure using steel for supports. A mirror sits at its base, with blue and pink neon lights representing the water’s edge and roadways, creating a perimeter of the downtown area. Through an analysis of building footprints and roadways, the design team created a system of wires that map out important buildings from Miami’s past, present, and future above the base.

The wires are then assembled into a system of counterweights and pulleys which link to different flat planes that sit on top of the bed of wires. Once assembled, participants can interact with the installation by pulling on different wires, watching these flat planes extrude and form the outline of the different high rises around downtown Miami.

The exhibit's opening demonstration at HistoryMiami was a big success with over 100 people in attendance.