Miami Bridge Draws Solar Power and Transforms into Two Vertical Observation Towers at Night
Roberto Rovira, Assoc. AIA, principal of azimuth studio, inc., in Miami, took first place in the international Miami Monument Design Competition that called for visionary designs to distinguish the Miami skyline. Rovira’s “Miami Sunspars" pedestrian bridge design across Biscayne Bay proposes two horizontal pedestrian bridges that transform into two iconic solar-powered vertical observation towers at night, one on each end of the span. The Sunspars project would connect downtown Miami with a new island cultural epicenter. The competition, sponsored by the Miami-based architectural visualization company Spine3D and AIA Miami, drew close to 100 entries.

ASK Studio Holds a Frame to Its City’s Skyline
An urban object derived from agrarian forms, baSe-iS brings the background into the foreground
baSe-iS is a culturally and socially responsive work of habitable sculpture that reorients the skyline of Des Moines. Meant to accelerate the city’s reinvestment in pedestrian-scaled urban experiences, it frames views of the city’s primary civic icons and connects to developing pedestrian pathways. Though it draws its form from agrarian models, it is intended to foster a richer urban fabric for the city.

Fantasy Is Relative: From Real to Virtual and Back Again
Architecture and master plan of the RaiJuku District in vSide
This project encompasses a set of “built” architecture—retail, residential, and social—as well as urban planning for vSide, a social networking site owned and operated by Doppelganger Inc. The work was created, designed, and executed by the multidisciplinary design studio ii, founded by Chris Lee and Ryu Kawai, two designers trained in traditional architecture.