Miami: Biscayne Bay, Florida.
The ferry terminal defines the first and last impressions of a spatial and municipal identity and builds the threshold between the urban and the global. The building extends the local urban grid into underused space, and sets the outward trajectory of the traveler. The transformations through different modes of transportation are clarified and enhanced.
The function could be accomplished with a simple parking garage and pier. The program is arranged however, to choreograph the travel experience; a motorist becomes a pedestrian, pauses at the transit lounge to consolidate a new communal mode of travel, and she boards the ferry. The transformation through the modes of travel is reinforced by a reflective/protective/translucent wall through which the traveler moves. The wall is scaled to offer grandeur to the traveler’s experience and creates shade to support relaxed public activity.