Public Art Tour at Miami Design District
Updated: Apr 2, 2024
Looking for something fun and sophisticated to do? Enjoy a walking tour of the Miami Design District, as you explore the history of the art and architecture that characterize the neighborhood. The Miami Design District is a neighborhood dedicated to innovative fashion, design, architecture and dining experiences.
On April 6th at 11am, we will visit outdoor installations and murals including Buckminster Fuller Fly's Eye Dome, Virgil Abloh’s Dollar a Gallon, Amani Lewis’ Baltimore’s Finest, and more.
Fly's Eye Dome by Buckminster Fuller
In 1965, Buckminster Fuller designed and patented the Fly’s Eye Dome, which he called an “autonomous dwelling machine”. Prototypes began to be built by hand in 1977, and by 1983 three of the fiberglass spheres in various sizes (12-foot, 24-foot, 50-foot) had been produced. Fuller died before he was able to realize his vision for the structure. However, almost 50 years later, the design, a Monohex variation of the geodesic dome, can clearly be seen as a forerunner of today’s green building movement.
In 2011, collector Craig Robins acquired the 24-foot prototype to exhibit it and use it as inspiration for a key element of the Miami Design District. The following year, The Buckminster Fuller Institute, in partnership with Goetz Composites, ConformLab, and DRDesign, began the development of a program to complete Fuller’s vision, using advanced technologies and materials not available to Fuller in the 1970s. BFI was then commissioned to produce a Fly’s Eye Dome utilizing state-of-the-art materials, intelligence, and techniques, to be prominently incorporated in the Miami Design District.
Dollar A Gallon III by Virgil Abloh
Dollar A Gallon III is a sculpture by artist Virgil Abloh presenting a window into the artist's study and research of the effect of advertising on the impressionable. The work serves as a comprehensive lighthouse of mixed media. The framework is reminiscent of a gasoline sign relaying information about various types of gasoline and the respective pricing, while also being the commodity of an advertised sponsor. The series of global occurrences of this work was considered specifically for the Miami Design District, where its final positioning implies the concept of commerce and necessity re-packaged as a brand — while underscoring the relevancy via location.
Ultimately the work is a signature of Abloh’s multi-lauded artistic logic emanating in a physical form not limited to any specific medium.
Born in Rockford, Illinois, Virgil Abloh was an artist, architect, engineer, creative director, and fashion designer. After earning a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he completed a master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago.
At IIT, while studying a design curriculum devised by Mies van der Rohe, Abloh began to craft the principles of his art practice. The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presented a major traveling survey of Abloh’s work in summer 2019—one of the highest attended exhibitions in the museum’s history. the late Virgil Abloh was the Chief Creative Director and founder of Off-White™ and Men’s Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton.
Mr. GirlYouCrazy and Dev by Amani Lewis
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1994, Amani Lewis is known for their distinctively elaborate portraits, which often depict individuals from the artist’s social and creative circles through manipulation of photographic imagery. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, the artist now splits their time between Baltimore and Miami, where they live and work. For their first-ever mural work, Amani constructed a double portrait representing a creative couple from Baltimore—the musician GirlYouCrazy and the fashion stylist Devin—in a tender embrace. Addressing the need to reconsider prevailing narratives overshadowing the subjects’ hometown, Amani explains that “people often think Baltimore is dangerous and scary, but it’s filled with love and History. The culture is unstoppable.” Through a stylized portrayal of Black intimacy and creativity, this mural disarms stereotypical depictions and offers a glimpse into the fertile grounds of Baltimore’s artistic community.
Check out this link to reserve a spot.
