Spanish practice Barozzi Veiga is designing a new cultural hub for Oolite Arts, one of Miami’s leading supporters of visual artists.

The new campus will provide a “village-like space” for residency and space for various kinds of programmes, including cinematic arts programs, lecture series, and more than 200 art classes.

Set to be built as a new headquarters of Oolite Arts, the new cultural campus is located at 75 NW 72nd Street in the City of Miami. The new center is situated in a burgeoning arts district that is easily accessible within the city and close to many artist studios, homes, and galleries.

Barozzi Veiga’s designs scheme is made of a long, low-rise and porous block that is differentiated with powering solar chimneys and skylights to be able to optimize control of the climate inside.

The project is derived from “a repeated vertical typology” that incorporates skylights and creates a collection of rooms, with powering solar chimneys and wind catchers.

The project is set to be opened in 2024, and when it is completed, the project will be Barozzi Veiga’s first-ever built project in the United States and it will represent Oolite Arts’ status as a world class cultural center.

The new campus is aimed to expand opportunities and programming to meet the continued needs of Miami’s growing visual arts ecosystem while also enriching conversations about architecture and art in the city.

Besides artist residency and other programs, it will provide ample room for up to 21 free, individual studio spaces for artists, an exhibition gallery, a theater, two classrooms, a makerspace, a print studio, and the organization’s offices. It will also include a large community garden and rooftop.

“In general, our projects are designed with the end-users in mind,” said Barozzi Veiga. “We wanted to give artists the best working conditions.” 

“This meant finding a balance between very intimate studios and bright public spaces for community life, which is part of Oolite’s DNA,” added the studio.

Since announcing Barozzi Veiga as the architects for the project in February of 2020, Oolite Arts and the firm’s Principals—Fabrizio Barozzi and Alberto Veiga – have been working in collaboration with Florida-based firm Charles H. Benson & Associates, the local architecture partner, and Amicon, the owner’s representative.

The goal of the project is to create a new home where artists and the community can access flexible, bright, and open spaces for gathering. 

The project features an interior courtyard that invites the public and incorporates rich vegetation. Taking sustainability principles to the core of design, the project also reflects Barozzi Veiga’s standards for sustainability and the firm’s commitment to discovering the specificity of the place for which they are designing.