MIAMI, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A "new wave of high-profile architecture" is transforming Miami, says the ULI, and the leading local firm, Arquitectonica, has helped make the city one of the "top 10 to Watch."

  OF SPECIAL NOTE:

  - Arquitectonica ranks among the busiest architects in Miami, with close
    to 60 high-profile buildings constructed or under development. The
    firm's works include such prominent icons as the AmericanAirlines Arena,
    the Atlantis Condominium, Miami Children's Museum, and the new federal
    courthouse.

  - In part due to Arquitectonica's role in the city's redevelopment, the
    Urban Land Institute (ULI) has listed Miami among the "Top 10 Cities to
    Watch," citing its "new wave of high-profile architecture."
    Arquitectonica is widely recognized for its historic role in energizing
    the city's architecture with the iconic Atlantis Condominium in 1982,
    the ULI said.

  - The firm's projects now under development total more than 20 million
    square feet and exceed $5 billion of construction, including 19 new
    residential projects and 38 towers in downtown Miami alone. Statewide,
    the firm has designed over 500 buildings, many residential, ranking
    Arquitectonica among the most prolific designers of new dwellings in
    Florida.

  - Arquitectonica and its projects have earned 25 design awards in the last
    three years, including the Miami AIA "Firm of the Year" award.

  THE FINE PRINT:

The momentum in Miami is unmistakable. And the imprint of Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica on its home city is instantly recognizable as well.

Arquitectonica jump-started the local design scene with a compelling signature style and internationally regarded buildings like the 1982 Atlantis Condominium. Over the last few years, a stream of awards and honors for architecture and planning has come to the city and Arquitectonica. Terence Riley, director of the Miami Art Museum, cited two new Arquitectonica buildings as evidence that architecture is "one of the engines" of Miami's recent ascendancy.

Miami currently has $30 billion in private building projects in development, and more than $5 billion of that - new buildings exceeding 20 million square feet - are designed by Arquitectonica. These include 19 residential high-rise projects comprising 38 towers in downtown Miami. Sixteen of those towers are completed or under construction. (Elsewhere in Florida, the firm has designed 30 residential towers with more than 7,000 units in such locations as Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Panama City. Ten of these towers are completed.)

The latest kudos for the city's architecture have come from ULI (http://www.uli.org/), which ranked Miami on its "Top 10 Cities to Watch" list. The rankings were based on cities' efforts to redevelop with innovative design and planning.

"During the 1980s, Miami-based Arquitectonica's design for the Atlantis Condominium put the city - and a certain tropical approach to architecture - in the national eye, thanks to 'Miami Vice,'" wrote the ULI. That building came to symbolize the new Florida - and a metropolis emerging as the center of international finance for Latin America and the Caribbean, and a whole new generation of tourism. It was also one of the first buildings to advertise world-class design as integral to condominium living.

Today, Arquitectonica is responsible for at least 15,000 of the residential units currently under construction or approved for Miami.

In fact, Miami is experiencing, "a new wave of high-profile architecture," says ULI. Among the latest projects attracting attention to Miami are Arquitectonica's AmericanAirlines Arena and the new Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr., U.S. Courthouse, with public art by Maya Lin. In addition, several world-class architects have been attracted to Miami due to the building boom and the city's emphasis on art, design and glamour.

In the process, Miami has become a hip international destination with a fast-growing business and cultural base. The resurging Art Deco District of South Beach hosts Art Basel Miami Beach, and the newer 18-square-block Design District hosts Design Miami. The Miami River is becoming a true active waterfront with the Arquitectonica-designed One Miami and its "Artwalk," leading the transformation.

With these changes, it's no wonder that Miami was named "most exciting city" by Wallpaper* magazine last year - and that Arquitectonica was featured by Architectural Digest in a tour last fall "to celebrate the power of architecture and its ever-increasing influence" in this dynamic tropical city.

THE ARCHITECT:

Arquitectonica (http://www.arquitectonica.com/) is an architecture, interior design and planning firm that formed in Miami three decades ago as an experimental studio. Led by Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Laurinda Spear, the studio has grown to more than 400 professionals, combining its original creative spirit with the reliability and efficiency of a major firm. Arquitectonica is affiliated with Arquitectonica GEO, a landscape architecture firm, and has offices in: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Lima, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. PROJECTS: Extensive experience in the full spectrum of architectural projects. Especially active in Asia, Arquitectonica has conceived the 4.85 million-square-foot Taikoo Hui Mixed-Use Development in Guangzhou, China, and the 5.33-million-square-foot AIG International Finance Center in Seoul. AWARDS: Many AIA and Progressive Architecture Awards, including the AIA Test-of-Time Award for its Banco de Credito Headquarters, The Atlantis condominium and the Pink House. Arquitectonica was AIA Florida and Miami Firm of the Year. PRESS: Featured in 3,000 publications globally, with a new monograph authored by Beth Dunlop. EXHIBITIONS: Major museums in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

  Contact: Chris Sullivan
  
  
  **PHOTOS AVAILABLE**

Source: Arquitectonica

CONTACT: Chris Sullivan, ,

Web site: http://www.arquitectonica.com/