Draft Lincoln Road Masterplan is Colorless & Contemporary

Wednesday, June 17, 2015, by Sean McCaughan

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The renovation and improvement of the historic Lincoln Road pedestrian mall by landscape designers James Corner Field Operations has been shrouded in semi-secrecy by the City of Miami Beach through the entire process. This puts a big question mark around one of architect Morris Lapidus' greatest architectural achievements, which is paradoxically completely unprotected by historic preservation laws despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Lincoln's midcentury elements are not historically designated locally). Finally, a detailed look at the plan has been revealed.

Picture Lincoln Road in white and gray. >>

The result, in a draft of the plan obtained by The Next Miami, is a design that eliminates literally all color from the structural and architectural elements of the road itself, while radically altering the midcentury lines of numerous planters, fountains, and other architectural elements. A few of the ideas included would be significant improvements, like the pedestrianization of Drexel Avenue, but the overall transformation of the road as described in the report is both rather underwhelming, extremely extensive, and significantly destructive of historic details. It's also bland.
The colorful paving which is now one of the most notable features of Lincoln Road would be completely ripped out and replaced with generic gray organic-isn pavers. A few large new freestanding structures are added to Lincoln Road's collection of follies in key spots. A pervasive effort is made to introduce contemporary 'organic' aesthetic sensibilities into a midcentury setting that has always enthusiastically been anything but organic, and an obvious adoration of the neighboring and unhistorical 1111-adjacent block of Lincoln are all part of the plan. Perhaps the success of 1111 Lincoln Road was a motivating force for the improvement of the rest of the stretch, but instead of acknowledging and embracing the different styles of the two sections, here one is clearly watering down its own powerfully unique identity to mimic the other. Neither a landscaping design or plans for Lincoln Lanes North and South, (the alleys, which have loads of potential) beyond saying that they should be incorporated somehow, are included in the draft.

A large new folly would be built at Lincoln and Washington, a block where the historical follies have already been destroyed. The design is a metal sheet with holes in it suspended on been poles. The rather minimal structure is on a site that demands a statement-making piece.
Restaurants and cafes would be required to all have umbrellas of the same design, for the sake of uniformity and cohesion. Cafe seating would also be more organized into a unified strip along the length of the road.
Many of the planters would be shrunken, or in some cases eliminated, creating more permeability on the street but reducing its botanical garden-like ambiance. This particular fountain is a large planter, part of the original Morris Lapidus design, which would be ripped out. The fountain itself is made of oolitic rock, not concrete painted white like in the rendering, but of course the alteration would require more oolitic rock. The plan doesn't address whether or not they would keep the oolitic rock and get more or rip that out too. Oh, and those buildings are wrong. The fountain isn't on that block.
More radical planter alteration. Notice as well that rectilinear horizontal and vertical lines of the current planters become slanted to incorporate seating and, well, because that's the look society likes these days. They are completely wrong, historically speaking.
Folly walls and spaces would be used to display art. Except for the Romero Britto beach ball, it's a great idea.
This is unexplained, but it's located at the end of Euclid Avenue which currently dead-ends on Lincoln Road. Originally this space was an open plaza-like area with an adjacent bandshell folly that still exists. Yes, that's what that thing with the waterfall coming out of its back is. Now, it has an elevated grassy/astroturf oval and somewhat serves the same communal purpose, while restaurant seating is stuck under the underutilized bandshell. This is where that giant seashell dreidel is set up every Hanukkah. Whatever this new thing is, well, oy vey.
James Corner Field Operations, quite intelligently, divides Lincoln Road up into various 'rooms', each of which would have its own 'purpose' or whatever.
This block is already a blank slate, with pretty much anything of historical value except for the colored pavement walkway being ripped out when Lincoln Road was renovated in the 1990s. Now the colored pavement is ripped out too, but at least some of the 'piano key' black and white stripes are retained. There is a large new folly at the termination of the road followed by a water feature that pedestrians will be encouraged to play in. Fun!
Drexel Avenue would be closed to traffic, which it almost in effect already is. According to this the cool walkway things between the fountains by the A-frame folly might also be taken out. Those aren't original Lapidus, but still fun and better than an empty reflecting pool.
To the left is the astroturf oval at the dead-end with Euclid, but here it's shaded blue. The draft does not clear up this mystery at all.
Outdoor art gallery. Actually, a really great idea.
Planters are pulled back to reveal the triangular fountain when just reducing the overgrown foliage would do the same trick.
More elimination of greenery to stare at water in a concrete box.
Lincoln Road has always been very colorful. In James Corner Field Operations' plan, it will no longer have its color, at all.
Notice the angles of this planter, which transforms its entire look from 'Midcentury Miami' to 'mall anywhere'.
The draft proposes monolithic concrete furniture. You know where else there's a lot of concrete furniture? Prison.
The best idea of the whole proposal might be to install artist Konstantin Grcic's 'Netscape' swings in one of the follies. Right now its is awkwardly filled with restaurant seating.
The new lighting plan has a lot more light masts.