Unusual underwater sculpture park to open in Miami

Miami Beach, Florida, could soon become a popular diving and snoorking destination. An underwater sculpture park is to be created that will cover an area of seven square miles of seabed.

The sculptures are to be made of limestone and concrete and will be placed on the ocean floor, at depths ranging from three to 10 metres. According to available information, the project will be implemented in phases, with the first part of the park expected to be completed and commissioned in December 2021.

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When the entire park is completed, it is to become the largest artificial reef in the region and a way to stimulate the development of underwater life where, due to the lack of suitable conditions, this is not possible in a natural way. After all, it is a well-known fact that representatives of underwater fauna and flora love to inhabit all elements protruding from the bottom.

The idea for the park came to Ximena Caminos, president of the BlueLab Conservation Society and founder and artistic director of ReefLine, after seeing the benefits of creating artificial reefs.

I thought to myself, what if we created a reef designed by artists? I’ve always been interested in how we can combine art and science to solve sustainability issues,” Caminos told CNN

The whole project has been designed by Shohei Shigematsu, an architect from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Shigematsu will also design one of the first installations, which will be a structure similar to a spiral staircase. It is to have enough surface area to create habitats for sea creatures and a wide inner opening through which any diver can swim freely.

We are trying to create an interdisciplinary team including artists, architects, scientists, conservationists and city officials. Together, we are trying to create this underwater sculpture garden that will help revive the damaged local coral population and thus improve the safety of the entire coastline, ” explains Caminos

Once the park is open to the public, which is expected at the end of next year, the development of the park will continue. At the moment, further artists are still being sought whose work could contribute to the development of the whole project.