In the near future, Miami Beach residents and visitors will be able to stroll inside a tube-shaped bridge decorated with colorful panels above the MacArthur Causeway and Fifth Street as drivers pass below.
 
That’s according to a design for a proposed pedestrian bridge at the South Beach gateway which was recently presented by developers David Martin of Terra Group and Russell Galbut of Crescent Heights.
 
The project dubbed “The Miami Beach Canopy” and subtitled “Walking Under, Along, and On The Colors” was designed by French artist Daniel Buren. Sunlight would filter through the panels, creating a kaleidoscope of colors inside the enclosure. Openings in the top of the structure will allow for ventilation. A sign for Miami Beach would line the lower part of the bridge.
 
“The Canopy will become an instant icon for Miami Beach and a beloved work of public art that guides pedestrians along a rainbow of colorful shadows,” according to the development team which noted that the bridge will help denizens travel the city from Southpointe Park north to Lincoln Road and east to the beach front.
 
The bridge would rise 40 feet from the ground to the top of the enclosure and span 158 feet long for the section that crosses Fifth Street, according to Melissa Berthier, Miami Beach spokeswoman. The budget for the project is $10 million, according to the city.
 
The concept, which was approved by the city commission at its meeting July 17, is still in the design and permitting phase.
 
“I love it,” said Commissioner Michael Gongora of the design which was the second one presented to the commission after another in May. “Daniel Buren is world famous for public art installations and adds something different to the Miami Beach palette.”
 
“We appreciate the commission’s support for our plans and we look forward to presenting our vision to the Design Review Board in the coming months,” stated the development team.
 
The bridge will be part of the Park on Fifth development, a new 519-foot, 44-story residential tower and three-acre park, also from Terra and Crescent Heights. Part of the site is on the 600 block of Alton Road where the former South Shore Hospital was demolished in April to make way for the project.
 
A rendering of the proposed Miami Beach Canopy pedestrian bridge would rise above Fifth Street and the MacArthur Causeway at the city’s South Beach entrance.