Architecture

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Greenscape Cultural Concourse
Spring 2024
05
GREENSCAPE
CULTURAL CONCOURSE
A Vibrant Hub for Culture, Community, and Renewal
The Greenscape Cultural Concourse aims to rejuvenate Florida City with a vibrant center for community engagement and urban renewal. It features a ground-floor marketplace, art galleries and studios on the second floor, recording facilities and music practice rooms on the third floor, and a rooftop garden with an amphitheater. The “Botanical Climb,” a ribbon garden ramp wrapping around the entirety of the structure, will promote physical activity and cultural exchange. This project aspires to create a sustainable, inclusive development that honors the city’s heritage and fosters economic prosperity and social harmony.
Advised by Professor Cesar Garcia-Pons, AICP




Each programmatic layer interacts vertically while maintaining visual and physical connections between floors. Circulation is guided by the “Botanical Climb,” a continuous ribbon garden that encourages movement, social interaction, and engagement with both the building and surrounding context. The rooftop garden and amphitheater serve as a unifying destination, providing a shared space where visitors, artists, and musicians can connect while overlooking the marketplace and galleries below. This public park acts as a vibrant civic heart, hosting both community events and intimate gatherings, fostering a sense of belonging and shared cultural experience.


The stacked terraces of the Botanical Climb create a dynamic vertical circulation that connects all floors while promoting social interaction, physical activity, and engagement with nature. The continuous ramp encourages visitors to move through the building at a leisurely pace, exploring both the arts and the surrounding urban context.
Greenery lines the ramp, creating pockets of vegetation that enhance the sensory experience and bring the outdoors inside. Integrated drains and cleverly placed “mushroom columns” manage water efficiently, keeping the ramp safe and clean while maintaining the visual continuity of the design.
The structure itself uses a steel framing system with smooth, organic curves formed from white Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), a lightweight, durable material that allows for sculptural forms while maintaining structural performance. Together, the materials, vegetation, and thoughtful detailing transform the Botanical Climb into a vibrant public space and a hub for community interaction, cultural exchange, and engagement with the arts.

