Rem Koolhaas, super-celebrity-architect-of mystery, is joining Lord Norman Foster at the historic Saxony Hotel, where the two men are building adjacent objet d'architecture.
Last year, the Miami Herald and Real Deal reported that the Argentinean developer Alan Faena was reviving the stalled restoration of the Saxony Hotel, a classic midcentury resort by Roy France, with a new and spectacular tower next door by Norman Foster, that went before the city’s Historic Preservation Board for approval in October. The original restoration and expansion in the late aughts had been under the Cipriani name (longtime proprietors of Harry’s Bar in Venice and the Harry Cipriani Bar on Fifth Ave in New York, and former pals of Ernest Hemingway himself), but it died in the recession, Cipriani decided just a restaurant at Icon was enough, and the project is now firmly in the hands of Faena.
Never heard of Faena? Neither have we, but apparently he revived a big chunk of Buenos Aires with some fabulous hotels and stuff. The project’s website isn’t up yet, but to get an idea of what this new mid beach Faena-land will probably be like, check out what he did in Buenos Aires.
Nobody's seen the Koolhaas plans, and unfortunately barely a whiff of his design intentions are to be found. We did find a technical (and dry) Planning + Zoning Staff Report and Recommendation pdf that mentions Koolhaas's firm, OMA, but little more. No renderings, or plans, or hardly even schematics. In the meantime here’s a rendering of Foster's rather stunning tower to satiate you.
UPDATE - We've got Koolhaas renderings!
Do you know what's going on at the moment with Koolhaas, Foster, and Faena? Have an insider dish on what the great Koolhaas has in mind for his Saxony design? Do you know if our phrase 'objet d'architecture' actually makes sense in french? Send it in to the tip line, we beseech you dear reader!
· Breaking: Renderings of Rem Koolhaas' Saxony Expansion [Curbed Miami]
· Argentinian developers revive stalled project [Real Deal]
· Cipriani's Going to Icon [Eater]
· Faena Universe [Faena]
· OMA is on the books [City of MB]
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