Miami 2008 - Atlantis Rises Again! - Page 3

NewAtlantisMiami · #41 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 4:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bic

I live in a building that apparently is just down the street from where you lived before.

This building on the left, now the Mirador, is where I used to live on South Beach at 10th and West Avenue. From the 15th floor, near the left side of the building, is where the photo from 1998 was taken.
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NewAtlantisMiami · #42 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 5:10 PM**

This is the Bank of America tower, the roof from which I took so many photographs Thursday and Friday.

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CGII · #43 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 6:56 PM**

As awesome as Miami's skyline is, the architecture of each individual biulding is particularly unimpressive. It isn't due to lack of cheap skilled masonry labour, though, we can make modern architecture look good (Chicago) but in Miami it's just done for flash and kitsch, without any real merit.

I'm glad you love your city as much as you do. After spending a week in a condo on the 25th floor in March there I was so damn happy to be back in the more genuine urban envronment that is Milwaukee (even though it was only like 30 degrees). I could never live in Miami.

bic · #44 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 7:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewAtlantisMiami

It is still a pretty good representation of how things have changed though. Is that from the Flamingo? I lived at what is now the Mirador. It was called Forte Towers 10 years go.

Yep, it's the Flamingo.

NewAtlantisMiami · #45 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 7:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CGII

As awesome as Miami's skyline is, the architecture of each individual biulding is particularly unimpressive. It isn't due to lack of cheap skilled masonry labour, though, we can make modern architecture look good (Chicago) but in Miami it's just done for flash and kitsch, without any real merit.

I'm glad you love your city as much as you do. After spending a week in a condo on the 25th floor in March there I was so damn happy to be back in the more genuine urban envronment that is Milwaukee (even though it was only like 30 degrees). I could never live in Miami.

This is a joke!

NewAtlantisMiami · #46 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 7:46 PM**

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damn_sam · #47 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 9:00 PM**

WOW, Miami looks GOOD

NewAtlantisMiami · #48 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 9:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by damn_sam

WOW, Miami looks GOOD

This is only the beginning. The magnitude of the last "boom" we had was such that something has been set into motion that cannot be stopped. The gravity of the current situation will slow it down, but inertia is at work now. There will be continued development at a more civilized pace.

plinko · #49 Posted **Aug 17, 2008, 9:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CGII

As awesome as Miami's skyline is, the architecture of each individual biulding is particularly unimpressive....

I have a similar impression. The most interesting towers in these photos (some of which are quite good) are the old Freedom Tower, Dade County Courthouse, Espirito Santos Plaza, and Pei's Bank of America Tower.

Most of the newer towers appear to be a selection of blue vs. green glass, glass balconies, and whatever motif top the architect could come up with. Not exactly awe inspiring.

That being said, the transformation in the skyline over the last 10 years is staggering.

downtownpdx · #50 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 2:10 AM**

I've never been to Miami, but my impressions from this and other threads is that despite (or because of?) the boom, the streets seem a little empty and disconnected. The skyline shots are amazing and beautiful, but the downside appears to be a lack of cohesiveness at the pedestrian level. Where are all the people? I just see soaring glass towers but no buzzing activity on the street. The Brickell Village area seemed to have some of that, and I know of South Beach of course. But the 'downtown' itself makes me wonder if there is much overall planning to direct this growth and create a sense of place ... or is it just a mish-mash of towers that look great from a plane, but feel like soulless fortresses from the street? Maybe it's different than what has been portrayed?

NewAtlantisMiami · #51 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 2:43 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

I've never been to Miami, but my impressions from this and other threads is that despite (or because of?) the boom, the streets seem a little empty and disconnected. The skyline shots are amazing and beautiful, but the downside appears to be a lack of cohesiveness at the pedestrian level. Where are all the people? I just see soaring glass towers but no buzzing activity on the street. The Brickell Village area seemed to have some of that, and I know of South Beach of course. But the 'downtown' itself makes me wonder if there is much overall planning to direct this growth and create a sense of place ... or is it just a mish-mash of towers that look great from a plane, but feel like soulless fortresses from the street? Maybe it's different than what has been portrayed?

I'm sorry, but street level scenes are not my thing. I'm not into street level in and of itself. I'm only into street level to the degree that I'm attempting to capture the scale of a skyscraper from its base to its highest point. That is difficult with so many people walking by the camera or bumping into you. Sometimes, my vantage point is in the middle of the street, which makes weekends best for this when there is less automobile traffic as well as pedestrian traffic.

NewAtlantisMiami · #52 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 2:49 AM**

This I took during the break in a storm Thursday. Friday being so much better weather wise, I asked if I could go up again and was accommodated. Thank God, because with Fay approaching, I don't know when I will be able to go up again.

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brickell · #53 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 4:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

But the 'downtown' itself makes me wonder if there is much overall planning to direct this growth and create a sense of place ... or is it just a mish-mash of towers that look great from a plane, but feel like soulless fortresses from the street?

The skyscraper growth is a direct result of planning. I think you have it backwards. Miami like a lot of cities in the 60's and 70's tore up most of the neighborhoods in and around downtown for Interstates, parking lots and office buildings. It's take a long time for anyone to even imagine living there again, but this is the result... It'll take a while for the condos to fill and maybe longer for the large amount of streetside retail in the new buildings to fill up, but i'll happen sooner rather than later thanks to this boom. Some of the buildings aren't what I would want, but most of them have tried to fit into an urban context.

NewAtlantisMiami · #54 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 5:10 AM**

There is a lot more vibrancy and ubanity at street level here than you will see in my photographs because I'm not into capturing that sort of thing just for the sake of capturing it. It is usually incidental in my photographs while I'm trying to capture the scale of our skyscrapers.

Jularc · #55 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 5:57 AM**

What an amazing thread of the growing Miami!

NewAtlantisMiami · #56 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 6:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jularc

What an amazing thread of the growing Miami!

You have my buddy Brickell of the Miami forums to thank for this thread. He is the one who suggested I create a photos thread here after I created QuantumPX on SkyscraperCity. Friday's shoot from the top of the Bank of America tower in downtown Miami represents the pinnacle of my newfound hobby and possible semi-professional career. The wide-angle shot of the Brickell Financial District from BOA's roof is now my favorite wallpaper without question. No more conflicts there.

I actually just started this last month after not owning a camera in 25 years, but as I said earlier, I've studied skyscraper architecture and history as a hobby for over 30 years. I've seen enough postcards and picture books to have an idea of how I want to capture Miami. The only thing left for me to do now as far as I can see is the ultralight tour without the rainstorm. Then, we have to wait for more skyline. I've captured every angle, view, and vista in this city I've wanted to capture.

Brickell, if you have any favorites of mine that I haven't put on the thread, feel free to post them here. I still want to get bifocal sunglasses so I can actually see what I'm photographing while I'm photographing it because I'm farsighted, need reading glasses and can't actually see fine detail on the display when I'm snapping a photo.

ragerunner1 · #57 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 1:39 PM**

The skyline of Miami is top notch and downtown has come a long ways in the last few years. The big challenge now is to create a pedestrian environment with a truly active street scene after 5 o'clock. This may be a greater challenge for the planners than the new skyscraper canyons that have been created. If Miami can ever create a Michigan Avenue or a 5th Avenue than it will arrive on the world stage as a major downtown. It would go a long ways if they could just create a street life on the scale of a Minneapolis or Indianapolis (which are very active after 5).

NewAtlantisMiami · #58 Posted **Aug 18, 2008, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ragerunner1

The skyline of Miami is top notch and downtown has come a long ways in the last few years. The big challenge now is to create a pedestrian environment with a truly active street scene after 5 o'clock. This may be a greater challenge for the planners than the new skyscraper canyons that have been created. If Miami can ever create a Michigan Avenue or a 5th Avenue than it will arrive on the world stage as a major downtown. It would go a long ways if they could just create a street life on the scale of a Minneapolis or Indianapolis (which are very active after 5).

I think South Miami Avenue as it runs through Brickell Village (see post 24 preceding page) has the greatest potential for becoming what you've described, especially if we ever get large mixed-use projects such as Brickell Citicentre (808, 749, and 740 feet), Premiere Towers I & II (513 feet), Brickell Flatiron (794 feet), and Infinity II (736 feet). All of these were approved and would have lined South Miami Avenue on both sides north and south of Brickell Village, but did not make it as part of this most recent "boom." I'm a big proponent of the large mixed-use project and the city-within-a-city concept where a skyscraper or cluster of skyscrapers (Brickell Citicentre) ideally would becomes a self-contained city within itself. I see it as the wave of the future and definitely the way to go for Miami.