As the art world descends on Miami for the annual Art Basel in Miami Beach fair, and the related art fairs, events, and ensuing hoopla, the city’s newest art museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA), has announced plans to break ground on a new building in the Design District.
The ICA’s planned home, the first US project by the Spanish firm Aranguren & Gallegos Arquitectos, will measure 37,500-square-feet, with exhibition galleries and a public art garden. Construction will begin this coming summer on NE 41 Street, on a property donated by Miami Design District Associates, a partnership between developer Craig Robins’s Dacra and L Real Estate (a private equity fund sponsored by the LVMH group).
Currently, the museum is enjoying a rent-free lease in the Design District’s Moore Building. The new project will be funded by a gift from Irma Braman, the co-chair of the museum’s board, and her husband, Norman Braman.
“Miami is among the most impassioned and engaged cultural communities in the world. We are thrilled to be able to realize the design and construction of ICA Miami’s new home without the need for any public funding,” said Irma in a statement. She described Aranguren & Gallegos as “a firm noted for designs that respond to, enliven, and enrich dense urban environments.”
The new institution, which celebrates its opening tomorrow evening (see “ICA Miami Will Open with Pedro Reyes and Andra Ursuta“), was established by the former curators and board of trustees of the municipally-owned Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami after a drawn-out legal dispute between the museum and the city (see “The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami Sues City For Breach of Contract” and “MOCA North Miami Closes in Controversy“). The lawsuit was recently resolved, with MOCA retaining its North Miami home and much of its collection (see “The Battle Over MOCA North Miami Has Ended“).
Design plans for the new venue will be finalized in early 2015, with a grand opening planned to coincide with the 2016 edition of Art Basel in Miami Beach.