Miami Architecture: Full of Hot Air?

The structure will be on display during Art Basel Miami Beach, November 30—December 4.

by Staff -- Interior Design, 11/21/2005

The excesses of Miami Beach may make it the perfect location for Art Basel’s second home, but for architect Luis Pons, the overindulgences are reproachful.

"The Fabulous Floating Inflatable Villa" was designed by the Venezuelan-born Pons as a reaction against the "McMansion" culture of Miami real estate. Fabricated by Alejandro Handal and produced by Inflatable Concepts, the 30-foot-high floating pavilion will be moored at Aqua, 250 West 63rd Street, on Allison Island, from November 30–December 4, during Art Basel Miami Beach.

The 900-square-foot structure, which boasts 360-degree bay views, is designed in tones of white, cream, and beige. It is illuminated with fully installed white lighting throughout its columns and dome, making it visible at night. The PVC villa will be kept inflated by a generator and transported by a flatbed barge to various other locations.

Sponsored by Dacra Development (Aqua’s builder), the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, and Inflatable Concepts, the villa is part of a series of inflatable installations and objects designed by Pons.

While Miami architecture has always been about fantasy, the uninspired among it, according to Pons, "fails to engage, and instead confronts an aggressively unattractive symbol of our architecturally inflated and environmentally impoverished age."

On the other hand, he says, "Inflatable objects possess a tremendous expressive capacity; they are logos and contemporary icons, as well as animated graphics, with an inherent ability in their capacity to alter their volume--unbreakable, flexible and impermeable neon signs."

His goal is to demonstrate that these values could--indeed, should--be transferred to Miami architecture, “conferring value to image rather than content.”

The architect is the founder of Aponwao Design, a multi-disciplinary architecture and design firm in Miami. Pons is also the Latin American representative for David M. Schwarz Architectural Services, based in Washington, D.C. His office is impressively replete with inflatable furnishings (see Interior Design, March 2005).