The Miami Hand Center is a pioneering private medical practice located on Douglas Boulevard, a main vehicular artery running in the north/south direction across the city of Miami, Florida. Currently, the 2,700-square-meter plot is the site of two separate low-rise buildings, one serving the Hand Center and another housing the Miami Dermatology Center.   

The proposed scheme is minimal in scale.  First, it aims at structuring the site by clearly defining its boundaries and managing vehicular and pedestrian flows. The proposed boundary walls along the secondary streets are aligned with the property limits and designed as elongated vitrines some of which define the peripheral pedestrian access points to the clinics, others serving as select instances through which the site can be partially revealed. The main façade located along Douglas Avenue extends over 65 meters, and consists of three highly visible interventions:

The vitrine

The first instance consists of a 25-meter-long by 4-meter-high frame elevated 4 meters above the sidewalk. This format contains a stretched canvas of unprecedented proportions, visible to daily vehicular traffic as well as the public park located across the boulevard. The surface of the canvas consists of visual artworks that would be commissioned to artists on a periodic basis.

The box

The second instance consists of a 5-meter-long by 4-meter-high deeper frame elevated 4 meters above the sidewalk.  This format makes space for three-dimensional pieces which would also be commissioned to artists on a periodic basis.

The cube

The third instance consists of a 25-meter-long by 8-meter-deep open-to-sky gallery with 9-meter-high peripheral walls. This format gives room for mixed media art installations in addition to serving as a passage obligé/courtyard to the Miami Hand Center clinic. 

As the commission initially called for an “architectural” intervention that would maximize exposure to the clinics, the proposed scheme brings forward exceptional formats for a display of art conceived from and inspired by the medical field. In an unexpected way, the Miami Hand Center could become not only an assemblage of over-scaled urban vitrines, but also an exceptional destination for experiencing unique forms of artistic production that exclusively tackle the specific medical practices.