U Residence

A SENSE OF HISTORICAL MODERNISM WILL BE REVIVED FOR THIS 1949 CENTURIAL-ERA HOME -- ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES ARE THE TRUE INSPIRATION FOR RESTORING THIS EXPERIMENTAL TROPICAL MODERN RETREAT. A sense of dormant modernism lives inside this 1949 architectural marvel. Rufus Nims designed this modern tropical house within the premise of whom its residents would be— a farmer and seasonal summer resident— in a much less populated Miami. 69 years later, within the modern principals of architecture, Nims’ experiment has become a true reference of unusual construction and design methodologies, making this residence a timeless design structure. Today, Doo Architecture, lead by Alexis Cogul Lleonart, has taken the challenge of remodeling and updating this marvel to present day centurial needs. A delicate intervention will keep the original structure intact. Cantilever slabs and clean concrete columns will articulate a new volume, rotated 45 degrees from the original footprint towards the back of the house. The front of the structure will remain intact in its design and will be reconstructed, while the back of the structure will be completely remodeled and updated. The new addition will use warm new materials and cladding so as to complement and enhance the original design versus compete against it. Our European sensibility helped in recognizing the true value of this 70 year-old architecture example. The home will be delicately adapted to our modern times — a design based on the home's sense of place, time and scale.