The 1111 Lincoln garage and a game of its Transparency

    The 1111 Lincoln garage is successful urban sculpture, designed by Herzog & de Meuron that allures the Miami Beach visitors and publicity with its futuristic look. The building integrates the varieties of the city functions, such a notion of the vertically sliced version of the facing public plaza; a giant buffer of the Lincoln Road corner; an open-air box, with the exposed plagued glass-glazed retails and hidden roof private unit with hanging garden on the top.

Figure 1. View of 1111 from Alton Rd 

Merging of 1111 Parking Garage and adjacent building - Ana Benatuil

The 1111 Lincoln road parking garage located at the intersection between Alton road and Lincoln road, serves as a successful connection between the pedestrian traffic on Lincoln road and the vehicular traffic accessing Lincoln Road Mall. The 1111 is a multipurpose building that seeks to fit into the Miami Beach urban fabric, by serving as an entrance to Lincoln Road Mall and also by becoming an icon to Miami Beach. This writing seeks to critique and analyze the connection between the 1111 parking garage with the existing building next to it. 

One of the purposes of the 1111 parking garage was to serve as an addition to the existing building. At the human scale, right along Lincoln road, a canopy above the retail spaces continues across the new building to the existing building, marrying the two together. Also, the top floor of the existing building is articulated in the same manner as the concrete slabs of the parking garage, with the same slanted ends. This way, the garage is wrapping the existing building, successfully merging them together. 

 

Last floor of adjacent building treated in the same manner as the parking garage concrete slabs

Overhang continuing through the existing building, creating a unified experience for the pedestrian

On another note, while it was clever to accentuate the continuation of the canopy at the first level, another way the garage was connected to the existing building was through bridges and stairways on each level of the parking garage. Said connections although they might be functional to the users, I think they are architecturally unsuccessful and out of scale. The grandness of the parking garage is overwhelming in contrast to those tiny stairways and bridges, creating a sensation of improvisation or temporary pathways. Also, the feeling one gets while standing over those bridges is a feeling of uncertainty and vertigo, and when looking at the gap between the two buildings, one sees that there is nothing else that relates one building to the other.

Bridges and Stairways connecting both buildings

Gap between both buildings, notice small stairway above.

Bridge to existing building

As an object, the parking Garage is a successful piece of architecture, being a landmark to the urban fabric of Miami Beach, and also connecting to the existing building at a larger scale, wrapping it on the first floor and last floor with the same concrete slab treatment, but the connections at a human scale, such as the bridges and stairways are somehow random and improvised. An example of a better attempt to connect both buildings can be seen on the roof garden which is part of the residential area of the parking garage, one can see the wide stairway going to the top of the existing building, with a better sense of scale in contrast to the parking garage.

Stairway to roof garden, better sense of scale.

1111 Lincoln Road, Alexandra Pagliery

Having recently been completed in 2010, the Herzog and de Meuron parking structure situated at the intersection of Alton and Lincoln Road is working its way to becoming an icon. “Eleven eleven,” as it is so called, has become a new term in the vocabulary of Miamians and tourists alike to denote this large, yet light, concrete structure that functions as the grand entrance to the pedestrian zone of Lincoln Road.  It works similarly to the gateways of old cities in the sense that when people pass by it, it marks a new territory. In the case of 1111, it marks the beginning of a retail district or strip where people can shop, eat and take part in many other activities (Figure 1).

Fig. 1. The scale of 1111 and its prime location at Lincoln Road and Alton Road.

The design of 1111 has many qualities that would cause it to become an instant symbol for Miami Beach, and more specifically Lincoln Road. The structure stands at a height of 125 feet, towering over any of its neighboring buildings, which were all built with a height restriction of 75 feet. This allows 1111 to be seen from many vantage points while driving in Miami Beach (Figure 2). When one is driving down Alton Road or 17^th, it can be seen from a distance allowing a driver to know that they are approaching Lincoln Road, a road that does not allow for vehicular traffic (Figure 3). One might think it strange for a parking garage to become a symbol of Miami Beach but even though one of its functions is to serve as a parking garage, at its large scale, it only houses a shocking 300 parking spaces. The fact that it is a multi-purpose space that can host events, has a variety of retail and restaurants located within, and even has residences on its top level, makes it a very suitable icon because it contains all that defines Miami Beach and why people live and travel here. With its openness and large separation between floors, at night it serves as a beacon that becomes filled with light (Figure 4). It illuminates the entrance of Lincoln Road starting at the ground floor and continues all the way up through the structure. All these features, together with its simplicity of design and signage have allowed 1111 Lincoln Road to easily fill the role as new icon for Miami Beach (Figure 5). The real test for 1111’s ability to be the new icon will come when similar structures that are scheduled to be constructed by other well-known architects are placed in the Miami Beach grid (Figure 6). Although these other structures might make 1111 just one of many, 1111 will prevail because of its location and connection to the centerfold of Miami Beach, the historic and symbolic Lincoln Road.      

Fig. 2. View from a parking lot across the street.

Fig. 3. View from West Avenue and Lincoln Road.

Fig. 4. View at night all lit up.

Fig. 5. The simple signage.

Fig.6. Locations of current and proposed structures.
1111 Lincoln Road by Herzog and de Meuron
Parking Garage by Ten Arquitectos
Proposed Garage by Zaha Hadid
Proposed Parking/Retail/Hotel Complex by OMA
Proposed Structure by Norman Foster

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.

Thiago Menezes 1111 Cognition of Scale

This reading seeks to critique and analyze Herzog & de Meuron's 1111 mixed use parking garage, located on Lincoln road, as it relates to human sensory perception through spatial procession. It will attempt to explain the journey taken by the body and mind as physical and phenomenological experiences take place.

As we move through, we will look at three main levels of scale awareness to be referred to as "the across", "the adjacent" and "the within" and two in between states of mind and body.

The Across:
As suggested by its title, the across is a place far enough away where one is able to see the building in its entirety, (i.e. across the street) and therefore perceives it as an object. Positioned across from 1111, both its form and scale seem to be very apparent and well understood, allowing one to easily picture oneself in and around the building as if one had been there before. It is here where the physical and phenomenological aspects of ones surroundings interfere with ones perception of the scale. Placed next to the theatre and having tall trees adjacent to it, the garage seems to be well proportioned, only slightly larger that its surroundings.
It is at "the across" where the mind accepts and welcomes the scale. See figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1

Figure 2

In between 1:
As one accepts the garage for what it is, and moves towards it, the mind begins to question itself as to the previously made judgement. As one nears the structure and looks up, one begins to ponder 1111's monolithic qualities.

The Adjacent:
As the mind succumbs to the physical world, one's thoughts vanish as they encounter the shops located at the bottom of the structure. Now focused on "the adjacent" the body and mind release themselves of any deeper thoughts and engage in frivolous and materialistic activities. Scale is no longer a factor. Both 1111's architecture and its surroundings inform one's body and senses that verticality is no longer a variable, thus engaging the body into the flat, one story space.
Here the mind is at a lethargic state, not focusing on its surroundings, but rather on what is displayed. See figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3

Figure 4

In between 2:
Climbing out of its lethargic state, the mind once again engages the space, and wonders what else might be up there. Referring back to "the across" the mind grows curious and challenges its own state of being, asking to be informed.

The within:
Having questioned itself, the mind again muses on 1111's monolithic properties. It is on the way up where perception and ideas begin to concretize, and one's thoughts move forward and realize the true scale of the multi-story structure. However, one's body and mind aren't truly in sync until one steps out onto the vibrating poured concrete slabs. Here, both the body and mind perceive altitude and the idea that one is no longer grounded, but stands within a structure. This realization of scale reaches its final moments as one walks out towards the metal wires,and looks out into the city. Yet, true cognition of scale is only achieved as one realizes that one is still standing under a double story height reachable only by private residents. See figures 5 and 6.

Figure 5

Figure 6