Maybe you've been wondering what's going on with the newly constructed, bright pink eyesore that recently appeared in Brickell's Flatiron Park. The small, but hard to miss, building is temporary sales office for a 64-story tower of condominiums that CMC group plans to build behind the office.
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The sales office was designed in collaboration with marquee artist-turned-director Julian Schnabel. And while CMC group is hawking the Schnabel-designed building as a "public art space," it's undoubtedly meant more as a branding exercise than much else. The planned luxury condos will not be designed by Schnabel. If CMC group gets the brand of a well-known artist then Schnabel himself earns the backing of major corporate money. The group recently announced that it would sponsor a Schnabel retrospective at the NSU Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale.
The sales office is designed to mimic Schnabel's controversial house, the Palazzo Chupi, located in New York's West Village. CMC's offices shares the Palazzo's bright pink exterior and over-the-top aesthetic. The interiors of both feature velvet-covered furniture, Venetian-inspired lines, and bric-a-brac designed by Schnabel. CMC's office not only takes inspiration but from the Palazzo but -- in typical Miami fashion -- embellishes the embellishments. The exterior features mosaic-like patterns made from broken plates, a reference to the large-scale paintings that launched Schnabel to international fame in the 80s.
It's an interesting collaboration and artist-designed residential buildings aren't exactly new to Miami. But Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi hasn't exactly been treated as the architectural icon that CMC group would have everyone believe. One critic described the house as "an exploded Malibu Barbie house." But perhaps Malibu Barbie's house is more suited for the Miami skyline than it is Manhattan's.
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