1111 and Lincoln Road

Top: East end | Bottom: West end

 

One thing that the development of 1111 Lincoln Road did quite well was create an appropriate continuation of Lincoln Road as well as providing a space that creates a subconscious spatial “anchor” to the pedestrian mall. When traveling from the East end on Washington Avenue to the West end on Alton road one would experience a common spatial experience of flat artificial commercial surfaces that are broken down or bisected by an arrangement of soft landscaping and architectural follies that create a series of zones. These contain the veins and the bones of what becomes the body of the consumer experience of the mall. The veins would be the circulation and the follies and soft-scapes hold them together and are the bones which allows for a wide array of program to be interpreted within these spaces.

Starting at East you would encounter the inspiration for the 1111 space. On either side there are large buildings that tower over many other buildings in South Beach. This creates a feeling large vast empty spaces which are appropriately filled with follies and soft-scapes that force down the pedestrian field of vision. Only when standing far back and one really comprehend the magnitude of the space and even then it is not vast or empty but dense and heavy allowing very little views beyond the end of the block. 

 Moving West towards Alton Road you would encounter many similar blocks each one unique but all with the same general experience of pedestrian spaces encapsulated in a metaphorical box of perforated decorative walls.  All along the way there are the same elements of water, plants, and follies. Each of these elements is expressed as continuous parts of a cohesive whole: water follies, plant follies, plants among water, etc.

Boxed space

 When you come to 1111 you suddenly encounter something new. Something unlike the rest of the mall but familiar enough to understand that this space is a part of Lincoln. You would encounter Live Oak and Cyprus trees that are different from the normative deciduous and common Ficus shrubbery you would see on the rest of the road. The soft-scape is much more sparse and intentional as are the water follies and seating areas created from them. The space as a whole is large and powerful but the pedestrian area does not diminish this like its sister to the East. In fact this feeling is embraced as well as it maintains a pleasant pedestrian experience that really punctuates Lincoln Road in an appropriate fashion.