Drawing on the geologic, as well as the constructed history of the Miami waterfront, the project creates a new series of horizontal public spaces ascending in scale from streetscapes to public plazas and finally grand visual plazas that connect and orient the visitor to the larger context of the project. By experiencing the constructed site as a series of 3 levels, each with its own material and programmatic characteristics, the waterfront is addressed as a complex horizontally stratified condition and a stark contrast to the flat geometric parkscapes and extreme vertical buildings that form the typical Miami edge condition. The forms of the buildings recall the thrust of the coastal ridge and the sedimentary and tectonic forces that formed Miami limestone.