The centerpiece of Argentine developer Alan Faena’s Miami Beach Faena District will debut in November with the opening of Faena Forum, Bazaar and Park, just before the annual Art Basel Miami Beach week.
Each new space in Faena’s Collins Avenue district will feature a taste of innovation:
Forum, a two-story public performance venue, was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture; Bazaar, a retail space featuring a mix of international brands and emerging talent, is a collaboration with New York Kelly Framel and Zach Lynd; and Park, a state-of-the-art parking garage, will feature elevators — for the cars.
The celebration will kick off on Nov. 27 with a processional performance featuring Miami-based and international artists that will take a modern twist on carnival-style parades. Participating artists include Cuba’s Los Carpinteros, Miami-based artists Miralda and Carlos Betancourt, and Italy’s Marinella Senatore. An intervention by Ernesto Neto will be presented in collaboration with Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary.
All programming is under the direction of Faena Art, the nonprofit led by artistic director and chair Ximena Caminos, Faena’s wife.
Also planned for the Forum on Nov. 28 and 29 is “Once with me, Once without me,” a dance commissioned for the inauguration of the Forum, featuring performers from the Miami City Ballet School. Other programming at the 43,000-square-foot Forum through early December includes a series of solo presentations led by Iranian philosopher Reza Negarestani and the unveiling of a site-specific mural commissioned from Argentine artist Graciela Hasper.
The line-up is similar to the schedule announced for the Forum’s original opening date,
slated for late last year.
The Forum is designed as a cultural nexus, said Faena, much like the Faena Art Center that anchors the Puerto Madero district in Buenos Aires created by Faena and business partner Len Blavatnik. It sits across from the 47-unit, Norman Foster-designed Faena House condo and the 169-room Faena Hotel, opened in late 2015. The boutique hotel Casa Claridges is part of the district, located between 32nd and 36th Streets along Collins Avenue. The next residence in the District, Faena Mar, is set to open in 2017.