Alan Faena Charts a Daring New Vision on the Miami River
The Argentine hotelier behind Miami Beach’s transformative cultural district turns his attention to the mainland with a sweeping new development of residences, art spaces, and a bold-face list of collaborators
Alan Faena has enjoyed a headline-making year. The superstar Argentine hotelier expanded his high-octane hospitality universe with Faena New York, which quickly captivated Manhattan’s glitterati with its seductive leopard-printed style, eye-catching location in two twisting travertine towers conceived by Bjarke Ingels Group, and star-studded opening festivities. The project marked a pivotal moment for the brand because it carried Faena’s expansive creative universe into New York rather than the beachfront settings of Buenos Aires and his billion-dollar district on Miami Beach.
Next year, Faena will break ground on Faena Residences Miami and unveil plans for a cultural district along the Miami River, marking the start of his most ambitious chapter yet. The vision involves reinforcing a community rooted in Faena’s long-standing values of blending artistic expression, cultural immersion, wellness, and design ingenuity. The multi-year project signals a major evolution of the universe he introduced with Faena Hotel Miami Beach back in 2015. “As we transformed Miami Beach into a global hub of art, culture, hospitality, and design,” Faena says, “we’re now embarking on a new journey—one that promises to create a groundbreaking cultural epicenter along the Miami River.
For now, the Collaboratory experience—a waterfront pavilion whose series of artful rooms, river views, and community areas is shaped for cultural exchange and early encounters with the project’s creative partners—offers a cinematic introduction to what awaits. It sits within the only private park of its size along the Miami River, part of the forthcoming 14-acre district that represents both Faena’s first expansion and standalone residential development on the mainland. The pavilion hovers above the water with an open-air spiral bloom installation in Faena’s signature red and white palette. Anchoring the experience is the Oculus, a digital art space featuring a multi-sensory installation conceived by Spanish artist Andrés Reisinger that guests gaze upon from a sunken sofa before journeying through spaces that introduce the project’s many collaborators and conceptual foundations.
They coalesce in two 68-story riverfront towers designed by Rafael Viñoly that will stand as one of the late Uruguayan starchitect’s final works when the project completes in 2029. “Rafael was a master, and the building he created here is spectacular” says Faena, who also tapped Viñoly to help envision his first project, the Faena District in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires. Though the buildings’ colossal scale and architectural derring-do is sure to stun a city already attuned to spectacle, its crown jewel ups the ante. Spanning the towers will be a sprawling three-floor Sky Bridge Suite that houses the Faena Cultural Society and communal spaces for dining, gathering, wellness, and recreation.
From the riverfront promenade, residents enter along a private guardhouse and a lushly landscaped drive that leads to the Cathedral, an immersive lobby framed by one of Reisinger’s surreal artworks, before the district opens toward gardens, gathering areas, and the marina. Large-scale mosaic murals by Juan Gatti will wrap the base of each tower, affording the river frontage a vivid artistic presence complemented by a lighting scheme devised by L’Observatoire International. “Our plan gives residents everything they need to be happy,” Faena says of amenities like Padel courts, lounges, cabanas, screening areas, and a rooftop infinity pool. A dedicated wellness program, meanwhile, will introduce Miami’s first sauna penthouse along with a hammam, floating meditation sessions, botanical steam rooms, rain shower beds, and longevity clinics.
The development’s 434 residences will extend Faena’s hospitality-driven ethos into daily life. For those, Faena Design Studio tapped Galerie Creative Mind firm Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, best known for devising handsomely appointed hospitality spaces at The Frick Collection and London’s Connaught and Claridge’s Hotels. “Bryan is one of the best designers in the world today; the studio’s approach to hospitality, detail, and living is truly unique,” Faena raves. Here, the studio plans to craft material-rich interiors that alchemize Faena’s theatrical flair with state-of-the-art fittings expected of luxury Miami real estate, including open layouts framing jaw-dropping views of downtown and Biscayne Bay.
“We create Collaboratories in every project because Faena is about creating community with art, culture, gatherings, and conversations,” Faena says. Those priorities guided his decision to pursue developing the site, which he opens will usher in another cultural renaissance in a city continually poised for reinvention. With mainland neighborhoods like Brickell and the Miami Design District experiencing a rapid ascendance, the riverfront will afford Faena the chance to capture that momentum while sculpting a compelling new cultural anchor—much like he has already accomplished in Buenos Aires, on Miami Beach, and now in New York. “Many people are coming to Miami, so we’re offering them the Faena way of life,” he promises. “This is a universe in the sky.”