Students re-imagine BBC open spaces, present potential designs


Biscayne Bay Campus Vice Provost Steven Moll often refers to his campus as “beautiful BBC” – and with good reason: the sprawling North Miami location is surrounded by Biscayne Bay and native mangroves; adjacent to Oleta River State Park; and rich in open spaces.

Eighty College of Architecture + The Arts students participated in the second annual design charrette held at BBC this year. They 'performed admirably' as they reimagined two key spots at the campus during the intensive three-day workshop.

The university hosted its second annual design charrette earlier this fall to reinvent a couple of key spots on campus – the “BBC Gateways,” the entrance sequence into the Academic I and Academic II buildings, and the “Courtyard Connector” between the two.

About 80 students from Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Art & Art History participated in the intense three-day workshop, which saw them split up into five teams to create design plans for these spaces.

Each team created ambitious and creative proposals for both spaces, and the plan that ultimately was selected as the overall winner – Team 5’s – will be incorporated in some capacity into BBC’s master plan.

Looking back for inspiration

To create their design, Team 5 revisited the history of the site where BBC sits, mining inspiration from the Interama project that peaked in the 1960s, as well as from the campus’ natural landscape.

“Our gateway moment has these arches drawn from Interama but especially from mangrove roots , since mangroves surround Biscayne Bay Campus,” said graduate architecture student and Team 5 member Tulio Sandoval ’09. “And we added this serene bioswale and amphitheater area overlooking the bay behind the academic buildings to serve as a gathering point for students.”

“Their proposal stood out as the overall winner because they created a series of iconic elements that tied everything together, from the entrance, through AC I and AC II, and into the lake beyond,” said Roberto Rovira, associate professor and chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture.

Rovira said the selection committee, which included FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg and Sandra Gonzalez-Levy, senior vice president of External Relations, felt that Team 5’s proposal created a transformation of BBC that would significantly enhance the quality of the campus in a way that could be implemented incrementally.

“The organizing team of this charrette was extremely pleased with the dedication, effort and caliber of student work in this design challenge,” he said. “Not only did everyone have to establish chemistry and incorporate different skill sets into their teams, but they had to respond to a complex set of requirements.

“The students performed admirably well. Each team gave the audience compelling ideas that will hopefully inspire future dialogue and play a part in the transformation of Biscayne Bay Campus.”

An intense two days

Indeed, the teams had less than 48 hours to tour their sites (the majority had never been to BBC before), conceptualize ideas, present those rough concepts, refine them, and make final presentations before a panel of FIU leadership that included Rosenberg; College of Architecture + The Arts Dean Brian Schrinner; Sylvia Berenguer, director of Construction; John Cal, associate vice president of Facilities Management; and D. Gregory Ault, vice president and principal at AECOM. (A handful of the Fortune 500 company’s architects and designers offered invaluable advice to the students participating in the charrette.)

“This was an exemplary exercise by the task force organizing the event – the CARTA faculty, facilities folks, outside architects and, of course, our FIU students and BBC,” said Gonzalez-Levy. “We are committed to incorporating aspects of these fabulous designs into the campus’ future, which will stand as a legacy of these talented students.”

“This year’s charrette was definitely more complex than the one last year at Modesto A. Maidique Campus, but everyone rose to the challenge and created something phenomenal,” Ault said. “It was impressive to see.”

Vice Provost Moll was most excited to see how each team responded to the demands of the workshop in different, creative ways.

“I wish we could take the best parts from each group and put them together,” he said. “That would be the ideal project.”

Here’s a look at all of the teams’ proposals, along with the mentions the panel bestowed upon when the results of the charrette were announced Oct. 27:

Team 1's design for the courtyard connector between AC I and AC II at BBC includes mounds that would serve as a spot for social gathering.

Team 1 – Best Presentation
Clark Agravante
Luis Davila
Mureka Green
Kevin Gurley
Leah Altmann
Shaheen Bertamaria
Marcela Arbelaez
Adriana Ares
Karisa Masson
Kristen Hoover
Carolina Carvajal
Joanna Ibarra
Mark Iusi
George Monserrat
Anna Miorelli
Fernando Yovera

Team 2 would add these towers to serve as a welcome to the campus.

Team 2 – Best Interiors
Mauricio Deleon
Joann Feng
Joseph Kim
Christian Mejia
Cynthia Brown-Milans
Leydi Coba
Elisa Ayres Netto Figueiroa
Judith Bradley
Sabrina Ocner
Jenny Valencia
Tim McKernan
Raul Nevarez
Andy Mikulski
Jenna Corsiatto
Craig Montenegro
Phillip Byrnes
Melanie Lewis-Boyce

Team 3's proposal for the BBC gateways nods to nature by incorporating coral rock.

Team 3 – Big Idea Award
Nathalie Goshen
Andrea Riba
Anaysa Mogene
Daisy Modal
Stephanie Cuffel
Denise Ekendahl
Katherine Brown
Zuzana Corral
Diana Rodriguez
Heather Dawn Wright
Elizabeth Vandillewijn
Dennis Espinal
Ricardo Garcia
Stephen Feccia
Ryan Ebrahimian
Sue-Ling Rosario

Team 4 would take advantage of the space connecting AC I and AC II by expanding on its plaza-like qualities and adding mangrove-inspired elements.

Team 4 – Best Site Plan
Carmen Rivero
Luis Rodriguez
Ashley Pumares
Stephannie Ruiz
Cole Miller Gardner
Griselle Gaudnik-Gibon
Jessica Cruz
Natasha Diminich
Jessica Samboni
Mark Brown
Victor Lazzari
Ryan Correia
Dayanah Eloi
Matthew Disparano
Jorge Rodriguez

FIU will seek to incorporate some of the elements of Team 5's design charrette proposal, which included a bioswale amphitheater.

Team 5 – Overall Winner
Dalila Serrao
Tulio Sandoval
Jorge Triana
Amy Joiner
Mary Larsen
Mohamed Elsayed
Jacqueline Failer
Ismabys Senra
Maria Pizano
Ralph Ferrer
Cristina Cordero
Mario Rojo
Yadira Jaimes
Andrea Sandoval
Amanda Vargas-Love
Maria Santana