DIASPORA Tower

Situated on axis with Flagler Street, one of the main streets in the city, the Diaspora tower is a vertical structure dedicated to the immigrants that today comprised the city of Miami. The form of the tower is resultant from the analysis of the diasporic movement, migration, and mass dispersion of people away from their ancestral homeland. Composed of twisting elements, the external form is the manifestation of an irregular structural organization which symbolizes the emotions and tribulations connected with the migration of immigrants and the enormous effort and difficulties that they have to overcome. Responding to the urban context through the manipulation of its form and structure, the tower’s geometry is extruded and then pushed over the water of Biscayne Bay, away from the existing context to provide the best views to and from the tower. The porosity of the tower minimizes the obstruction of bay views from the nearby buildings and prevents blocking the incoming winds from the bay.

The tower’s program consists of a visitor center, an aquarium, an observatory, a café bar, a souvenir store, an exhibit space and a roof plaza. These spaces can be rented for events, providing an extra funding source for Miami’s new landmark. At ground level, a modification to the site extends the plaza over the water creating a strait which brings water into the plaza and softens the edge with native mangrove trees, creating a habitat for wildlife. A visitor center is housed in a spherical structure - whose diameter is the same as that of the existing fountain - that acts as an enabler of public activities extending the character of the plaza to a changing perception of the structure as the visitors navigate through a spiral ramp that submerge them into a more intimate view of the marine life at the Bayfront Park. The sphere also performs as a power generating component as it houses a vertical axis water turbine that uses the sea current to produce hydrokinetic energy to power the structure, providing a renewable energy source with minimal impact on the environment.

While accessing the upper level via the spherical elevators, the visitors get a unique view of the tower’s design and views of the city. In the upper level, lobby space and café bar areas greet the visitor with its conical slanted walls and amazing views of the ocean. Moving around the observatory space towards the east side, one finds a spiral ramp and exhibit space which takes the visitors on a journey where a mural displays the history of the city and its Diasporas. This is a space for self reflection; the ramp creates a void - the Diaspora in all of us – framing a unique view of the ocean below. The top end of the ramp faces the west at the roof plaza, providing a complete view of Miami’s unique and ever-changing skyline.