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Wesley Kean Tells Indulge The Story Behind His Latest KoDA Design, Apizza Brooklyn

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Photo By: Nick Garcia

Award-winning architecture and design firm, KoDA, practices design with ambition for its clients  and optimism for the world. Led by Principal and Founder Wesley Kean, he uses analysis and research to inform create the design of distinctive buildings, landscapes, interiors and experiences.

One of KoDA’s recent projects, the new Apizza Brooklyn restaurant in Coral Gables, is perhaps a perfect illustration of the firm’s research-based design process. Kean and his associates took on quite a bit of in-depth analysis, diving deep into the company’s brand and figuring out how the firm could communicate that vision through spatial configurations, materials and menu design. KoDA even read the restaurant’s online reviews.

“This process allowed us to distill the brand down to its essence, and build and evolve it back into the space,” Kean said.

Their findings led them straight to a familiar icon.

“The brand is very tied to New York, so we spent a lot of time evaluating the city,” Kean said. “The instinct is to jump to subway tile or brick, but we took a step back and asked ourselves, ‘What’s truly synonymous with New York?’ And we just knew we had to go with a scaffolding concept.”

To read more on Kean and his process of design, visit INDULGE Miami.

Choeff Levy Fischman’s Prairie Avenue Residence Featured in Modern Luxury Miami

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Award-winning architects at Choeff Levy Fischman teamed up with developer, Mathieu Massa and the interior design professionals at Dunagan & Diverio Design Group to culminate the perfect Tropical Modern Miami Beach residence.

The home showcases CLF’s signature indoor-outdoor living style, with expansive glass sliding doors, and exotic stone flooring to ensure a seamless flow between the interior and exterior. The interiors combine a palette of grays, tans and taupe boasting European custom Oak shelving, natural gray Capri stone floors, and a unique limestone fireplace.

Offering 6,300-square-feet of living space with five bedrooms and six and a half baths, the waterfront home sits of 65-feet of water frontage and allows for 180-degree waterfront views. Outdoors, an outdoor kitchen and a large swimming pool create the perfect Miami-style entertaining space.

The turn-key residence is currently listed for $7.95 million via Julian Johnston of MIA Waterfront. To view more images of the residence, visit the home’s listing.

KoDA-Designed Armazem Showroom Celebrates Grand Opening

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Armazem Design, located in the DCOTA building in Dania Beach, celebrated the opening of their new showroom on January 17th.  Designed by architecture and design firm KoDA, the 6,000 square foot space leaves behind conventional showroom designs and creates an environment where customers feel at home. Armazem offers high-end home décor items, furniture and architectural products such as Bontempo, Itaca, Foscarini, Schuster and Adielle.

KoDA used subtle materials such as polished concrete and white museum-like walls to create a canvas for Armazem’s rich furniture and millwork. Texture was achieved through the use of light and shadow and pops of color highlight accents within the space. In addition to showcasing products, the new showroom also serves as an office space with glass-cubed conference rooms reserved for interactive and comprehensive design workshops.

Stantec’s Design Expert, Jon Cardello, In INDULGE Miami Magazine

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From Miami’s urban core to the shoreline, Stantec’s Jon Cardello has helped reshape the South Florida skyline with many high-profile development projects. Drawing from over 20 years of planning and design expertise, Jon organizes building forms, building uses, and sustainable design techniques to create dynamic, multi-faceted spaces, which promote enjoyment, wellness, and productivity.

Jon Cardello develops the overall corporate strategy, business development and marketing of Stantec’s growing commercial sector practice in South Florida and throughout the U.S. Cardello’s planning and design expertise in high-profile residential, mixed-use, hospitality and workspace project spans more than 20 years. Projects include Solitair Brickell, Luma at Miami World Center, Eve at the District, Midtown 29, Midtown 8, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach and Atelier in Dallas. Cardello and his team have also helped to reshape the famed Collins Avenue in Miami Beach with the restoration of seven historic Art Deco hotels.

Check out the article to read his interview with INDULGE Magazine.

 

MCAD’s BAM Sparks Interest in Architecture in African-American Students

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Of the 105,000 registered architects in the U.S., less than two percent are African Americans. In an effort to increase their representation in the industry, architect Craig Aquart of M.C. Harry and Associates created Black Architects in the Making.

BAM is a hands-on educational workshop focused on educating students, primarily African-American, on the architectural profession, and is supported by the Miami Center for Architecture and Design and the American Institute of Architects Miami chapter.

The definition of an architect is “a person who designs buildings and advises in their construction.”

So, it makes sense that the American Institute of Architects Miami Chapter would help build a program that focuses on educating middle and high school students, primarily African American, on the architecture profession.

The U.S. has produced very few African-American architects. According to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, of the 109,748 registered architects in a 2016 survey, only 2 percent are African Americans.

In an effort to increase that representation, Miami architect Craig Aquart of M C Harry & Associates created Black Architects in the Making to join the already established Architects in the Making program. The American Institute of Architects Miami Chapter supports both.

“BAM is a seed planting program that we must continue in more communities to diversify the architectural profession,” Aquart said in an email. “Students who knew little or nothing about architecture and the role it plays in their communities, now understand that their involvement in building better communities is essential to their well-being.”

Since its inception in 2015, Black Architects in the Making has designed more than 21 workshops led by African-American professionals. The efforts have reached over 300 students in Overtown, Liberty City, Richmond Heights and Homestead.

To read the full story, visit the Miami Herald.