A reader of Curbed has written in to complain about the backside of Arquitectonica’s Icon Bay condo tower.
The nearly 50-story wall of exterior emergency exit corridors are ‘hideous’ and create terrible light pollution, he wrote. He also said that it will be difficult for any developers to build west of the project, since no one will want to be facing the back of ‘this monstrosity.’
The project is being developed by Related Group, which is building up to four more towers with similar open exit corridors nearby at Paraiso Bay. The Paraiso Bay towers will be even taller than Icon Bay, recreating the concept on a larger scale.
In addition to criticizing the architecture, Curbed has been critical of the deal which saw the city tun over waterfront land to Related to build Icon Bay, and how the tower blocks view corridors.
Arquitectonica has been designing buildings in Miami with nearly blank backsides for at least a decade. Projects include Blue, Marina Blue, Marquis, and Paramount Bay. In Miami Beach, members of a review board once complained that they were essentially duped into approving an Arquitectonica-designed blank backside at the Bentley Bay condo project, assuming that it was clad in glass.