The environment that SHoP Architects has conceived at the gateway to this year?s Design Miami exhibition seeks to make visible two qualities?one evident, one latent?in the understanding of the city today. It exists at the intersection of Miami?s celebrated spirit of play, represented by a relocated landscape that mimics the beach, but also the city?s emergent function ?demonstrated by the art and design fairs themselves? as a center for creative visioning and technological discovery. Symbols commonly associated with the beach?sand, parasols, float toys, and even a hint of nighttime phosphorescence?create a ludic foreground for two printed structures that serve as a locus for a social and educational encounter. In its explorations of contour, action, process, and materiality, ?Flotsam & Jetsam? also aspires to create a link between Design Miami and the physically and conceptually adjacent operations at Miami Art Basel. The installation will have a life after the event as well when it is demounted and reconstructed as a semi-permanent public amenity at the Miami Design District?s vibrant ?Jungle Plaza.? At once glamorously amorphous and rigorously defined, the dual pavilions of ?Flotsam & Jetsam? evoke the geometries of current-borne sea life from diatoms to jellyfish. In their form and mode of fabrication, the pavilions also pay homage to the spirit of collaboration that is an increasingly necessary precondition for success in creative work of every type, including t...