Going Inside the Frost Museum of Science’s Construction Site

Published: December 30, 2015

Tags: Architecture & DesignDevelopment PipelineEnvironment

Miami’s brand new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science is a technically and programmatically complicated building full of advanced engineering and wildlife in the middle of Museum Park that (because of those reasons and a kerfuffle with the previous contractors) has taken a while to complete. Construction is more than back on track though for the institution which recently closed its previous location at their old VIzcaya-adjacent site in preparation for the big move. The walls, roof, massive ‘living core,’ and spherical planetarium are all in place, and elaborate technical and educational machinery is in the process of being installed. Gridics went on a tour of the museum’s new digs.

Miami’s brand new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science is a technically and programmatically complicated building full of advanced engineering and wildlife in the middle of Museum Park that (because of those reasons and a kerfuffle with the previous contractors) has taken a while to complete. Construction is more than back on track though for the institution which recently closed its previous location at their old Vizcaya-adjacent site in preparation for the big move. The walls, roof, massive ‘living core,’ and spherical planetarium are all in place, and elaborate technical and educational machinery is in the process of being installed. Gridics went on a tour of the museum’s new digs.

Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the museum’s new home is a tall, solid block of a building, pressed up against Biscayne Boulevard and the I-395 onramp, with exposures towards the east and south; Biscayne Bay and Museum Park. Breaking up the block, a completely spherical planetarium addresses the street. Just like its inside surface, taking visitors on tours of the solar system, projectors will turn the planetarium’s exterior into anything from Neptune’s surface to a slowly rotating earth, or potentially even a giant basketball on Miami Heat game nights. Behind the planetarium, a gigantic aquarium will suspend over dramatic exhibition spaces below, and ecological exhibits on the roof. This is the museum’s ‘Living core,’ with a monumental acrylic oculus looking up through the aquarium as its piece de resistance.

Update: the museum is almost out of money, and the county is working on a plan to save them and finish construction. In the meantime, pictures!