Landscape Architect Articles

Tower of Advertising over Miami05-01-15 | News

Tower of Advertising over Miami

The proposed tower, the design of SHoP Architects www.shoparc.com of New York City, is meant to fit in with the soon-to-be-developed Miami Worldcenter and All Aboard Florida's MiamiCentral Station.

The Highway Beautification Act (HBA) of 1965 was intended to protect the scenic beauty along federal-aid highways. Despite that, there are more billboards than ever along America's roadways. Scenic America www.scenic.org estimates there are "likely over 2 million billboards across the U.S.," with about half a million of those along side federal-aid highways.

Four states"?uMaine, Vermont, Alaska and Hawaii"?uprohibit billboards, and more than 700 communities nationwide have prohibited the construction of new billboards.

For those who loathe billboards, or as the British call them"?ua "hoarding""?uthe latest blight on the landscape is digital billboards, which have been called "huge TVs-on-a-stick," casting large amounts of light into the night sky, and potentially diverting the attention of drivers (as if drivers did not already have enough distractions with smart phones in hand).

Scenic America filed a lawsuit back on January 23, 2013 to overturn the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ruling that reversed the agency's ban on intermittently changing commercial digital billboards. The lawsuit alleges FHWA has wrongfully allowed commercial digital billboards to proliferate along federal highways nationwide.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Scenic America and its members by Georgetown Law Center's Institute for Public Representation, asserts that FHWA's 2007 guidance violates the lighting standards established under the customary use provisions of Lady Bird Johnson's Highway Beautification Act.

Now on the horizon is the Moby Dick of digital billboards. Miami Beach developer Michael Simkins, in conjunction with a Miami redevelopment agency, plans to build the 633-foot, three-sided "Innovation Tower' skyscraper, which will be equipped with Las Vegas-style LED billboards. Each wall will bear flashing static and animated ads as large as 30,000 square feet (0.688 acres). The LEDs will be shining around the clock over I-95, I-395 and the Dolphin Expressway and seen from all cardinal points. In a released statement quoted in the Miami Herald, Simkins wrote: "The iconic tower will elevate the city's brand on a global level, enhance the city skyline, and complement and enhance the surrounding community."

The Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency has delayed its vote on the plan, and the developer still needs a signed permit from the city.