Miami

Miami has become the hot topic in the news for a myriad of reasons: its renewed interest in downtown development, an international focus on art collections, and its new focus and identity as one of the most important emerging cultural centers in the world, with world class architecture as its showpiece. Appropriately titled, the AIA Committee on Design's spring conference, The Rejuvenation of American Cities on the Water, was planned to address these topics in depth by leading experts in their fields. See this line-up of exciting highlights:

• Manny Diaz, mayor of Miami, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk addressed planned development and new initiatives for a more sustainable, green architecture
• A series of tours were organized, featuring the historic districts of South Beach and the new building types filling the city grid and defining the new Miami skyline: Federal Court House by Arquitectonica http://www.arquitectonica.com/ ; Espiritu Santo office/hotel building by KPF http://www.kpf.com ; the new residential tower by Chad Oppenheim, 10 Museum Park; and Carnival Center for the Performing Arts by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects http://www.pcparch.com/
• Terry Riley, formerly from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and now executive director for the Miami Art Museum, hosted a panel discussion about the making of Museum Park, the new site for the Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Science, featuring designs by Herzog + de Meuron http://www.moma.org/expansion/charette/architects/herzog_meuron/selected_proj.html and Cooper Robertson and Partners http://www.cooperrobertson.com/ .
• An awards ceremony and reception held at the Wolfsonian Museum on South Beach (www.wolfsonian.fiu.edu/visitus/index.html)
• A finale panel discussion, moderated by the dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture and principal of DPZ, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, focused on the future of Miami.
• Conference Report