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Bienvenido a Miami...Land of Fancy Parking Garages?

Miami views from the 1111 Lincoln Road parking garage.

Unless we're talking about the impressing engineering that keeps skimpy bikini tops on man-made wonders, architecture is not a word we usually think of when we think is on the way—joining at least two other designer parking structures on the beach—we're going to have to start looking up when we stroll around South Beach.

Hadid's firm has been given $12.5 million to play with in creating the new municipal parking garage in the Collins Park neighborhood—that's near the Bass Museum, The Setai and the W South Beach. According to the Miami Herald, she will be spending the cash on her winning design in the shape of an '8'. (Significance of the number? Beats us.)

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Rome's New Zaha Hadid-Designed MAXXI Museum Finally Has a Little Art

We have to remember that while we had a long Memorial Day weekend in the US, business as usual continued on around the rest of the world, and this included the official opening of Rome's new Zaha Hadid-designed MAXXI contemporary art museum.

MAXXI, which works out to mean "National Museum of the XXI Century Arts," actually briefly opened its doors back in November, when the public was invited to tour the architectural masterpiece without any art yet installed inside, when the NYT called it a "space-age highway interchange." This time however, there are exhibits aplenty to see, and we're totally crushing on the one pictured above—"The Western Wall" by Fabio Mauri.

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Zaha Hadid Opens An Art Museum In Rome With No Art

Oh my gosh, would you believe that another building by Zaha Hadid got built? The Baghdad-born architect is famous for her futuristic designs, but most only stay looking good on paper. She has a few buildings scattered around the world, but the newest one in Rome takes the cake in terms of scale and space.

Dubbed the MAXXI Museum, or National Museum of the XXI Century Arts, it is a triumph for Zaha. Having opened only several days ago and described by the NYT as "less a unified lone structure than a convergence of long, shiny, serpentine modules — a bit like a space-age highway interchange," the Maxxi is already going down in architecture history. And since we've got a thing for good design, modern art and any new museum exhibitions, the Maxxi is fresh on our radar as well.

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Chicago's Millennium Park Piles On The Culture With New Pavilions

Forget the mirror-finish "Cloud Gate" sculpture, otherwise known simply as "The Bean" by Anish Kapoor, Chicago's Millennium Park has blossomed into something even greater than a sanctuary for great architecture and green space—it's become a work of art all it's own.

From all sides, Millennium Park is the place to visit in Chicago; the north holds Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion auditorium and lawn, the south end is the Art Institute with its new Modern wing, the east edge of the park is the lakefront and harbor, and the west edge pulses with Michigan Avenue. Everything within the park continues to grow; from a huge garden of indigenous-to-Illinois plants to the sculptures scattered throughout.

The absolute freshest addition to this garden of al fresco delights, aside from a wading stream, are the two Burnham Pavilions being built to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the city plan. The first (pictured above), designed by Ben van Berkel of UNStudio, has been up for almost a month now and will remain until late October. It's neighbor by architect Zaha Hadid, however, lags severely behind.

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Chicago's 'Bean' To Get Some Serious Competition This Summer

For visitors to Chicago, a must-do is taking a picture of your own reflection in the smooth, mirrored surface of Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" sculpture at the entrance to Millennium Park. Nicknamed "the Bean," the massive blob holding court at the Michigan Ave entrance to the park is about to get some serious competition for touristic affection on June 19, when the city unveils not one, but two new pavilions which will do more than just sit there and look pretty.

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Mobile Museums: Chanel Art Tube Touches Down in Central Park

In case you haven't heard, static institutions are out, and mobile museums are all the rage. So if you thought you saw a UFO-like-thing landing in Central Park earlier this week, it was just the latest traveling museum to touch down in NYC: The Chanel Contemporary Art Container.

The museum combines a trend we do like--British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid's space-age, deconstructive design--with a trend we don't like--blurring the line between fine art and commercial fashion. (All of the art has been "inspired" by Chanel handbags.) But, we'll get on board with anything that looks like a "happening," so we'll be in line next week for our tickets, when the museum opens in Rumsey Playfield.

The movable museum, which has already been in Tokyo and Hong Kong, will be open in New York October 20 through November 9, before continuing on to London, Moscow and Paris.

Related Stories:
· Chanel Contemporary Art Container [Official Site]
· Architecture Travel: Putting New on Top of Nothing [Jaunted]

[Photo: VinceHuang]

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Architecture Travel: Putting New on Top of Nothing

Come back and visit us again soon: This weekend's New York Times reported on "insta-cities" that are more dynamic than the Delta-Northwest merger. Dubai went from desert stopover to high-rise paradise in 10 years, while Shenzen, China has grown by 8 million people in 30 years, with all the unplanned, even haphazard growth patterns rapid development brings.

The coolest thing about these new cities is also their peril: That all things are, architecturally, possible. The Gray Lady discusses new projects by Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas which, rather than adding to the existing cityscape, will foster the growth of neighborhoods in places where there were none.

Related Stories:
· The New, New City [NYT]
· Architecture Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: chant3]