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Robert Wennett A Miami Beach Developer Looks to Switzerland With an Eye Toward Architecture, and Art
By Tiffany Rainey
While most of the horde flocking to this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach will be too caught up in perusing the pieces flown in from throughout the world to pay much attention to the buildings in which they’re housed, at least one developer is working to make sure that what’s on the outside is as visually appealing as what’s inside.
As both a developer of urban mixed-use projects and an avid collector of contemporary art, Robert Wennett, the founder and president of a development, leasing and management company called UIA Management LLC, is constantly searching for ways to combine his two loves while adding a visual aesthetic often overlooked in the rush to fill the South Florida skyline.
“A good development respects design and uses design and art to make people smile and enjoy being in a place,” he said. “Buildings of today need to recognize that they are part of the urban fabric and are public spaces which are there for everyone to enjoy.”
And that’s exactly what the Boston native hopes to accomplish with the help of Basel, Switzerland, architectural design team Herzog & de Meuron at his latest project at 1111 Lincoln Road. “Herzog fell in love with Miami and saw the potential to do something special, and felt the location of 1111 was critical to the city of Miami Beach and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to complete Lincoln Road,” Wennett said of the architect’s involvement in the project. Responsible for the Tate Modern in London, the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates will also be designing the new Miami Art Museum in Bicentennial Park.
The Lincoln Road project proposes closing the west end of Lincoln Road off to vehicular traffic and creating a garden area designed by Raymond Jungles, a Miami-based landscape architect. Plans for 1111 — set to break ground next spring — include 50,000 square feet of retail on Lincoln Road, a 300-car parking garage, 110,000 square feet of office space, new bank facilities for SunTrust Bank and five high-end residences.
Wennett’s goal to provide art to the public doesn’t stop with the architecture. With the assistance of partner Mario Cader-Frech, the MTV Networks Latin America director of public affairs with whom Wennett shares a home on South Beach, the developer often allows artists free use of the common areas in his properties to display their work. The two also lend pieces from their personal collection to the developments.
“Right now 1111 Lincoln Road showcases numerous local and international artists in the lobby and common hallways from our personal collection, which we rotate every six months,” Wennett said of the current display curated by Mariangela Capuzzo. “We find our tenants really enjoy the art and it gives us a place to show large pieces.”
Just in time for Art Basel Miami Beach, the building is now the temporary home of a large-scale photographic installation by Swiss visual artist Renate Buser. Designed to be best seen in motion by those traveling along Alton Road, the piece will consist of two photographs spanning each side of the building’s northwest tower.
Aside from development projects in Coral Gables and Miami Beach, Wennett has also become a familiar face within Miami’s art scene since arriving in 2004. In addition to serving with Cader-Frech on Art Basel’s host committee, he is a board member at the Wolfsonian and member at Locust Projects.
“Miami, in general, is important on a world scale and as it becomes more recognized it becomes a better place for artists to be recognized,” he said. “That wasn’t the case even 10 or 12 years ago for artists. Miami’s developing as a city, not just an art scene.”
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