Shohei shigematsu designed Miami Beach's first underwater public sculpture park, snorkel trail, and man-made coral reef.
ReefLine, this is the name of the underwater public park, it will function as an artificial reef to protect and preserve the marine life of the city. It will provide a habitat for endangered coral reef organisms, promoting biodiversity and improving coastal resilience.
The agency OMA will design the ReefLine masterplan by collaborating with a team of expert marine biologists, researchers, architects and coastal engineers. ReefLine is unique because it attracts attention and mitigates the dangers of climate change in Miami,” he says Shohei Shigematsu, partner of OMA.
We look forward to working with the group of experts and professionals on our first underwater public park masterplan.
Shohei Shigematsu
An underwater public park that defends marine life
It is not an inaccessible sanctuary. It is a real underwater public park, which stretches for 11 kilometers. Reefline is a large-scale environmental public art project.
It all starts from a geometric modular concrete unit that can be deployed following the topography of the seabed. A “living breakwater” that will be interspersed with a series of installations, just like statues in a public park on land.
ReefLine will be completed in phases, with the opening of the first mile of the artificial coral reef scheduled for December 2021. The first phase will open with permanent installations by the Argentine artist Leandro erlich.
concrete coral
Erlich will create an underwater incarnation of his popular sand-sculpted “traffic jam,” commissioned by the City of Miami Beach during Art Week 2019. The installation, called “Concrete Coral,” recodes images and sculptures of cars and trucks as new vehicles for environmental change.
In the coming months, installations by other artists are planned.
ReefLine is a singular investment in civic infrastructure, public art and environmental protection.
