The Sky Lounge, the redesign of FIU’s Deuxième Maison (DM) courtyard, has been awarded the Award of Merit for “Divine Detail” at the AIA Miami 60th Annual Design Awards Gala! This year’s gala was held at the historic Alfred I. DuPont Building in Downtown Miami.
“It’s a great honor to be a part of this year’s AIA awards and to be recognized among colleagues whose work and leadership I respect and admire,” said Roberto Rovira, Lead Designer of the Sky Lounge and Principal of Studio Roberto Rovira, which led the project. “FIU had a great showing at the awards this year and I’m happy to have been a part of it. The Sky Lounge is the kind of project that bridges across disciplines, and I feel privileged that it is being recognized with an Award of Merit by the AIA.”
The DM courtyard redesign transforms one of Florida International University’s earlier buildings and takes advantage of the courtyard’s dramatic height, while being mindful of the constraints of maintenance and existing infrastructure underground. It creates a protected and flexible space that can serve for quiet study, conversation, contemplation, gathering, and occasional presentations. The minimum maintenance design solution provides users and passersby a destination unlike any other on campus. Over 3,000 air plants hang from light stainless steel braided shapes overhead, and large circular benches, custom-designed for this project, provide a place to sit back, relax, and take in the sky above, the blue glass underfoot, and the vines that will eventually cover the surrounding walls. Read the coverage in Landscape Architecture Magazine here. (Source: Studio Roberto Rovira)
Sky Lounge Project Team:
Roberto Rovira, Lead Designer and Chair of FIU Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design
José Álvarez, Martina González, Mario Menéndez & Luis Jiménez, Studio Associates
Sylvia Berenguer, Director Of Construction, FIU Facilities
Jim Piersol, Architect Of Record, Principal, MCHarry Associates
Barry Stevenson, Project Manager, Stobs Brothers Construction
Sky Lounge Air Plant Installation Team:
Alejandro Rovira, Andrea Sandoval, Brian Vazquez, Chris Cabezas, Christine Garcia, Corky The Dog, Daniela Menendez, Dava Thompson, Giovanni Guadarrama, Joel Bohorquez, Jose Alvarez, Kevin Arrieta, Kurt Schubert, Lola Bellaflores, Martina Gonzalez, Odette Barrientos, Roberto Rovira, Rafael Santos, Rodrigo Rovira, Santiago Arroyave, Sergio Pantoja, Vanessa Salcedo, Vicente Rovira, Yemail Sanchez
Both photographs in this article were taken by Manuel Perez-Trujillo.
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