The Wynwood Greenhouse proposes an open and flexible framework that exists at the intersection of art, architecture, and landscape. This iconic destination for design, music,art, events, and play, is composed of an ultra-thin structural frame which echoes the scale and type of neighboring warehouses and single family homes, hovering over a landscape growing within which provides a rich and engagin
g habitat for native flora and fauna. The Greenhouse is a place for dense gatherings as much as a park that welcomes quiet contemplation.Miami is home to many native butterflies. An exclusive array of lush native plantings are selected to specifically attract butterflies to the greenhouse park. These specific landscapes flank the east and west walls. One side of the structure consists primarily of nectar plants for butterflies while the other is filled with host plants to showcase the entire life cycle of a butterfly garden unlike any other.Built-in irrigation and misting systems create welcome microclimates throughout the year. Modular gabions change the density of the walls from porous concrete at the base, to planted walls that open up airy views to the sky. These modular butterfly planters serve as prototypes which could be distributed throughout other sites in the neighborhood helping to restore the butterflies habitat. Soft native grasses and wildflowers clustered on two mounds are reminiscent of the subtle rise of tree islands or cypress domes in the Everglades and provide elevated platforms from the adjacent grade. The site’s existing and centrally located oak tree is preserved. Not only does it establish meaningful continuity with the site’s existing landscape, but it provides welcome shade together with the delicate metal structure above whose canopy frames the clouds. The north and south facades allow easy views in and out, framing the activities of the adjacent street and controlling access to the park during off hours with a light mesh and a shaggy, planted gate. The north and south edges of the project dissolve towards the middle to underscore the continuity of a north-south axis of public space which manifests itself outside through the use of colorful bollards and newly painted crosswalks that echo the patterns of the Greenhouse canopy. Custom-designed furniture ranging from communal benches carved into the gabion walls and mounds, to swings and movable seats that share a common design language give the space an inherent flexibility that can adapt to multiple uses and variable configurations. The Greenhouse provides a framework onto which human activities and natural ecologies can attach. Its versatile armature progressively adapts as flora and fauna change throughout the year and as new activities dictate changing needs. From live concerts to farmers markets and art shows, the Greenhouse will open up a broad new spectrum of possibilities for Wynwood that are as enriching for people as they are for the environment that surrounds them.
