WELCOME TO ALTOS DEL MAR SCULPTURE PARK (ADMSP)!
If your senses ignite at the sight of an interesting piece of art and your spirit craves a place to be one with the breeze, the ocean and the trees, soon your utopia will arrive. A place where harmony rules and butterflies live. Step within a realm where contradictions thrive, a place that is both soothing and exciting, beautiful and jarring, still and flowing, moving and stationary, evolutionary and timeless, organic and mechanic.
We are building the first sculpture park of its kind in the world as it will feature:
FREE changing exhibitions of sculpture from established artists from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
FREE community art classes, fitness and entertainment.
365 days per year in the North Beach section of Miami Beach, Florida.
ADMSP will transform North Beach into a community, cultural, tourism and travel destination elevating the quality of life and economy for all.
We are building a place that although at first glance is a sculpture park, upon further inspection it reveals itself as an important community installation with cultural, social and economic implications that extend well beyond the sculptures and the traditional museum audiences- for EVERYONE!
4. The objective is to create a unique sculpture park to
serve as a community, cultural, tourism and travel
destination asset to the City of Miami Beach, the
North Beach community to elevate the quality of life
and economy for all.
The objective is to accomplish this with a sculpture
park that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the needs of the future by utilizing
subtle interventions and ecologically harmonious
materials, trees and plants thereby conserving the
land while using it as a park with sculptures.
5. Margarita Blanco from ArquitectonicaGeo and her team
donated their services pro bono to ADMSP to create the
sculpture park landscape design.
ArquitectonicaGeo’s site plan and design include sound
policies for managing the property according the highest
principles accorded to ocean-front parkland by using
materials such as tumbled recycled glass, recycled
wooden planks, crushed shell, and coral stone which
undulate and extrude creating a variety of display areas
for the sculptures as well as a central lawn for educational
programming. These surfaces protect high traffic areas
from foot traffic, and reduce irrigation demands.
6. The plans take into account the neighborhood context.
The park will result in creating a pedestrian link to the
public park spaces to the north and south, and provide
current and future residents with a cultural and
educational programs destination in conjunction with the
other parks. The sculpture park will continue to provide a
quiet and relaxing oasis in a sculpture setting. The
openness of the space, views of the ocean and sky, and
gently rolling topography will continue per the site plan
and design of ArquitectonicaGeo. It will combine to
provide a sense of peace and tranquility, even though
Collins Avenue runs along its western edge.
8. Miami Beach is a barrier island formed by an
accumulation of sediment on limestone shoals
Altos del Mar park is ocean front parkland within the
urban framework of the North Beach community.
9. ArquitectonicaGEO’s design concept inspiration is an
abstract interpretation of limestone geology found in
Miami Beach, ocean-front parkland and urban life: all of
which inform the aesthetics and layout of the space to
be:
A landscaped gallery space with four naturally divided
rooms that will change from an allée, to dunes, to a
maritime planting palette with a butterfly vivarium, to
a lawn which the visitor can find his way as he way-finds
along undulating paths as the sculptures change from
contemporary to figurative to abstract.
16. The Tree Allées
Seen from Collins Avenue to the driver and
occasional pedestrian, they open up views into the
park announcing it to the community. Pathways
are made of stepping stones and coral stone
bands set in lawn creating a path that encourages
the user to choose their own way to come up onto
the Lawn which sits in the center of the park
allowing for a further discovery of the park.
18. The Tree Allées exhibit
abstract sculptures.
Abstract Sculptures consist of
20th-century Western sculpture
that rejects representation and
has no starting- or finishing-
point in nature.
19. The Dunefield
Seen from beach and from the recreational beach
walkway, the dunefield creates an invitation for
the wanderer to go see what is in that dunefield.
Contemporary sculptures are a part of the
experience while walking on recycled tumbled
glass as it weaves through the sand dunes.
22. The Maritime Garden
Seen from the beach and the recreational beach
walkway, it creates the same invitation to go in and
see what is in that maritime garden. Crushed sea
shell and recycled wooden planks meander
through dense planting areas providing backdrops
for the sculptures and shady seating areas for
relaxation and contemplation unless you stumble
upon the Butterfly Vivarium.
24. The Maritime Garden exhibits
figurative sculptures
“Figurative Sculptures” are
representational and derive from
real object sources such the
human figure, animal figure, and
any other form that retains a
strong reference to the real world.
25. The Butterfly Vivarium
The Butterfly Vivarium is a simulation of the butterflies' normal
habitat where they naturally live or grow.
Unfortunately, many natural butterfly habitats are being destroyed by
the elimination of weeds and native grasses from yards, chemical
pesticides, parks and roadways, as well as the deforestation of
tropical rainforests. In South Florida, many butterfly feeding and
breeding grounds have been destroyed also because of
urbanization, and as a result the Schaus Swallowtail and the Miami
Blue native to South Florida are in the U.S. Federal List of
Endangered Species.
At ADMSP these rare species will live and thrive. The Butterfly
Habitat will also educate visitors of all ages about Florida native
butterflies and their habitat.
33. The themes of the planned exhibitions are:
The Triumph of Modernism
This exhibition focuses on the the 20th century’s most important
invention in sculpture: Abstraction (art that does not imitate the
appearance of things).
The Fascination of Technology
This exhibition focuses on towering sculptures characterized by the
rationality, purposefulness, and the predictability of architectural
design.
New Departures 1945 - 1960
This exhibition focuses on the post WWII shift toward redefinition and
re-formation of the figure.
Post Modernism and More
This exhibition focuses on the radical shifts and new currents after the
1960’s such as Minimal Art, Arte Povera, Fluxus, Pop Art, Land Art
and Installation.
36. ADMSP will offer the following programs to the community
at the Lawn:
Guided park tours by an art historian;
Art classes;
Classical music, jazz or other music events that
are cultural in nature
Book author readings;
Kite flying;
Outdoor Cinema;
Fitness classes such as Yoga, Aerobics, Pilates,
Ballet, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Meditation
Live butterfly releases
ADMSP will also be available for rental for limited private
events such as wedding ceremonies, baptisms, bar/bat
mitzvahs, birthdays, graduations, and other such events.
The types of programs listed here are a sample of the types of programs ADMSP can
offer. Each can be modified for various groups and needs.
38. Altos Del Mar Sculpture Park will offer an entrance pavilion on
the south east corner of the park.
The entrance gate itself shall consist of a sculpture of the park
logo which has been designed to be a stylized jungle gym.
The entrance pavilion will have an information booth, water-
fountains, toilets, benches and other required public amenities.
40. Drinking
fountains should
be usable from
either a standing
or sitting position. This
Their controls computerized
should be easily information
reached and station's controls
operated by can be accessed
everyone. Dual by people of all
height fountains statures from
are an effective either a standing
solution. or sitting position.
This lavatory's two counter heights
and motion activated faucets
provide accommodations that are
usable by a wide range of users.
Because this towel dispenser
does not require the user to
grasp controls or turn the
wrist, it can be operated by
almost everyone.
Public Amenities
42. What does the word CONSERVATION mean to ADMSP?
Conservation is the careful management of change. It is about revealing and
sharing the significance of a place and ensuring that its special qualities are
protected, enhanced, enjoyed and understood by present and future generations.
As a result, ADMSP will create a unique park that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the needs of the future by utilizing subtle interventions and
ecologically harmonious materials, trees and plants thereby conserving the land
while using it as a park with sculptures.
43. THE MATERIALS
The plans include sound policies for managing the
pathways and grounds according the highest
principles accorded to ocean front park property by
using materials such as tumbled recycled glass,
recycled wooden planks, crushed shell, and coral
stone bands which undulate and extrude creating a
variety of display areas for the sculptures. These
surfaces protect high traffic areas from foot traffic,
and reduce irrigation demands.
45. In the tree allées, paths are made of stepping stones and
coral stone bands set in lawn creating paths that
encourages the user to choose their own way.
In the dunefield, paths are made of recycled tumbled
glass as it weaves through the sand dunes.
In the maritime garden, crushed sea shell and recycled
wooden planks meander through out unless you stumble
upon the butterfly vivarium where well...what you see are
beautiful butterflies and it does not matter what you walk
on really...
The lawn will be a type that thrive in a heavy use, salty,
windy environment.
46. The Tree Allées
The materials would consist of native south Florida
trees, grass, stepping stones and coral stone bands.
47. The Dunefield
The materials would consist of native south Florida
dune plantings, and recycled tumbled glass.
48. The Maritime Garden
The materials would consist of native south Florida
maritime plants, crushed sea shell and recycled
wooden planks.
49. The Butterfly Vivarium
The materials would include larval plants like milkweed, marigolds, Queen Anne’s lace,
and violets; nectar plants like the butterfly bush, the beauty bush, sunflowers, lilacs,
snapdragons, and zinnias to support two different species that already call Miami Beach
home but which are in the endangered species list: the Schaus Swallowtail and the Miami
Blue. The layout will include rocks, a little waterfall and little hiding niches.
50. The Lawn
The material would consist of grass suitable for the
high traffic use, tolerant of drought, heavy rains and
salt water.
68. Peter Saile
Co-Chairman
Altos del Mar Sculpture Park, Inc.
A Florida 501 (c) (3) Public Charity
7701 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33141
T: 786-290-5045
F: 305-437-7601
peter@altosdelmarsculpturepark.com
www.altosdelmarsculpturepark.com
Margarita Blanco AIA, ASLA
Director
ArquitectonicaGEO
801 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1100
Miami, Florida 33131
T: 305-372-1812 ext. 513
F: 305-379-8362
mblanco@arqgeo.com
www.arquitectonica.com