Related Tops Off Edgewater and Design District Projects

MIAMI—Locally-based The Related Group topped off two of its major projects recently—Iconbay in Biscayne Bay and the Baltus House in the city's Design District.

The two developments will, when completed, bring 460 housing units to the area. In conjunction with the topping off at Iconbay, a 43-story condominium tower on Biscayne Bay and NE 28th Street, The Related Group announced the winners of a competition for emerging sculptors. The National YoungArts Foundation and Related invited YoungArts visual arts alumni to submit designs for pieces to be installed in the bayfront park area of Iconbay.

The commissions were awarded to Iliya Mirochnik (2006 YoungArts winner in Visual Arts), a Russian living in New York City, who will create a large scale metal piece, Nicole Mouriño (2006 YoungArts winner in Visual Arts), a Miami resident now living in New York City, who proposed a round disc of quartz and colored resin, and Nikolas Bentel (2012 YoungArts winner in Visual Arts), currently at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, and his sister Michela Bentel (2013 YoungArts winner in Visual Arts) who will create a metal totems featuring native flora in the design. The sculptures are scheduled for installation in late 2015.

At its Baltus House, which scheduled a topping off this month as well, a colorful mural by London-based Jaime Gili will span the southern and western walls of the 15-story condominium at 4250 Biscayne Blvd. The lobby will feature a large-format color photograph, approximately 8 feet x 15 feet, based on Pablo Picasso's “Guernica” by Catalan artist Lluis Barba.

Jorge Pérez, Related's founder and CEO, says of the art-related amenities at his projects, "We are constantly finding fresh ways to bring works of art to residents of Miami's urban spaces. I've always felt this is one of the most important ways to express our vision for living."