Marina Park Design | DASH - MAST Competition 2025

Apr 24

Overview

In the spring of 2025, thirty-one senior students from Design and Architecture Senior High (DASH) took part in the 15th annual Architecture and Industrial Design Competition, working alongside peers from MAST Academy and supported by the Key Biscayne Community Foundation (KBCF). Their challenge: to reimagine Virginia Key's Marina Park — reimagining the site of the Miami Seaquarium as a sustainable, publicly accessible hub for ecological education, recreation, and climate resilience.

Over eight weeks, students researched the site's history and ecological significance, took field trips to the Miami Seaquarium, the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School, and the Rickenbacker Causeway coastline, and developed proposals under the guidance of teachers Eric Hankin, Maria R. Castillo, Lynn Paisley, and Melissa Fernandez, with input from architect James Brazil. MAST Academy students participated by interviewing community stakeholders, helping DASH teams understand local needs and concerns.

Proposals ranged from modular observatories elevated above the bay to address rising sea levels, to integrated renewable energy systems, ferry and tram networks linking Virginia Key to the mainland, restored mangrove edges, and elevated walkways designed to deepen visitors' connection to the landscape. Nearly every design tackled climate resilience, public transit, and the balance between built structures and the natural environment.