West Palm Beach, Florida
First Prize + Design Development

West Palm Beach, Florida

First Prize + Design Development


This proposal considers the city as a balanced and connected human ecosystem in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The project imagines the future West Palm Beach – one of the cities with greatest touristic and human potential in Florida – as a dynamic and inclusive downtown where activities and spaces are intertwined in a functional and creative way. This urban metamorphosis is dependent on a double objective: on the one hand, to reconnect the city with Lake Worth Lagoon and multiply the possibilities of interaction with the water; and secondly, to create a new urban fabric with the potential to generate new urban, economic, and leisure opportunities.

The project thus focuses on two key spaces: the waterfront and Banyan Hub. The new waterfront will host a wide array of outdoor activities and public spaces, and is designed as a series of microclimates generated through the integration of vegetation and bioclimatic devices. 

For its part, Banyan Hub recycles the structure of an old surface parking garage, reimagined as a new space for innovation and activities, open to the public day and night. Its flexible configuration will allow different uses to coexist and evolve in time, and its design will ensure climate comfort all year round while reducing the environmental impact and management costs.


‘Open Shore’, West Palm Beach

Instituciones promotoras Promoter institutions

City of West Palm Beach, CRA Community Redevelopment Agency

Dirección del Proyecto Project management

Ecosistema Urbano LLP (Jose Luis Vallejo, Belinda Tato)

Equipo de proyecto, concurso Project team, competition

Marco Rizzetto, Carlos León, Antonella Marlene Milano, Luisa Zancada, Jorge Toledo, Marta Muñoz, Pablo Santacana, Lola Pouchin, Maria Vittoria Tesei, Andrea Bertrán, Ana Patricia Maté, Lucía De Retes Cascales, Cristina Rodríguez, Elizabeth Kelleher, Lorena Tselemegkou, Luana Scarpel, Silvia Sangriso, Daniela Menendez, Julia Casado, Constantino Hurtado, Andrés Walliser

Equipo de proyecto, diseño esquemático Project team, schematic design

Antonella Marlene Milano, Marco Rizzetto, Luisa Zancada, Jorge Toledo, Maria Vittoria Tesei, Sara Contreras, Jorge Sedano, Alice Clementi, Alberto García, Estefanía Arrieta, Michele Matteo Marcotulli, Carole Bourgon, Elizabeth Kelleher, Caterina Delaini, Matías Rico