Designing with Water

Architecture, climate and creative adaptation converge in a public conversation examining how Miami can design with water rather than against it.

Hosted at Pérez Art Museum Miami as part of the Open House Miami lineup, this program brings together three forward-looking frameworks—Buoyant City, Salty Urbanism and The Coastline—to explore architectural and urban responses to sea level rise, storm surge and long-term environmental change. Grounded in climate science yet oriented toward possibility, the discussion considers how resilience can generate new forms of design, civic identity and ecological integration, reframing adaptation as a creative act rather than a defensive one.

The panel features leaders working at the intersection of architecture, landscape, preservation and policy. Alan Shulman of Shulman + Associates presents Buoyant City, an approach that rethinks historic preservation as an adaptive, evolving system capable of surviving future conditions. Jeffrey Huber of Brooks + Scarpa and Florida Atlantic University introduces Salty Urbanism, which emphasizes layered landscapes and urban forms that reconcile with water through ecological design. Aaron DeMayo of Future Vision Studios and the City of Miami Climate Resilience Committee shares The Coastline, a strategy focused on regional green infrastructure that provides protection while enabling long-term planning and transformation.

Before the program, attendees can join an architecture tour of PAMM at 12:30 p.m., offering insight into the museum’s iconic Herzog & de Meuron-designed building and its relationship to Biscayne Bay.

Free with RSVP.