Gensler to renovate ICA Miami's 30,000-square-foot new wing

By Elena Vasquez

ICA Miami paid $25 million for a 30,000-square-foot building in 2024. Gensler will renovate it. The new wing opens in late 2027 and doubles the museum’s exhibition and public-programming space.

What does the $25 million building add?

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) acquired the property in 2024, the year Rosa de la Cruz died. De la Cruz co-founded the private De la Cruz Collection, which occupied the building as a museum. That private museum closed after her death. The site sits steps from ICA Miami’s current venue in Miami’s Design District.

Since the purchase, the building has hosted mainly the museum’s educational programmes. It will close once construction begins. Gensler will adapt the existing structure rather than demolish it. The renovation forms part of a $40 million capital campaign, funded entirely by private money.

The project turns a former private museum into a second ICA site and gives the institution its first permanent home for a collection of more than 2,000 works, together with a dedicated public-programming floor.

Takeaway: ICA Miami has bought a second building next door, and private donors are funding the $40 million conversion.

How will eight galleries change the collection?

Eight new galleries will occupy the building’s first and second floors. Two full floors will now hold the museum’s permanent collection for the first time. The display will change roughly twice a year as acquisitions arrive.

“The building was developed to house a contemporary art collection,” ICA Miami director and chief curator Alex Gartenfeld said. “But with the spaces we are constructing, we intend to enhance the museum’s story-driven narrative approach to the collection and exhibitions.”

“The programme between the two buildings is blended, but we will now have two full floors dedicated to our permanent collection,” Gartenfeld said. “Around every six months, we will refresh the collection display to reflect the collection’s emphasis and recent acquisitions.”

A six-month rotation means two complete rehangs of more than 2,000 works each year, with the blend between the two buildings keeping the Design District venue in play.

Takeaway: the collection stops being a rotation and becomes a fixture, reshuffled twice annually.

What will the third floor hold?

The entire third floor will run public programmes. Talks, symposia, lectures and performances will fill it. The wing will also bring the museum’s first permanent display of its collection.

“Beyond adding galleries, this renovation will strengthen the ICA’s ability to support artists, expand learning and create a platform for exchange and belonging in one of the world’s most dynamic cultural cities,” Gensler’s global culture and museums leader Bevin Savage Yamazaki said.

Together, the galleries and the third floor give artists and audiences room to work and meet in the same building, instead of splitting those activities across two separate sites.

Takeaway: one of the building’s three floors serves artists and audiences, not objects.

What changes for visitors?

Gensler will replace the front with a reimagined façade built with transparent components. Gartenfeld said the aim is to connect street-level traffic with the museum itself. The lobby will be redesigned. Outdoor areas will add social spaces, a sculpture deck and an expanded café.

“We are aiming to create a more collective experience,” Gartenfeld said.

The lobby redesign, social spaces, sculpture deck and larger café extend the museum beyond its gallery walls, adding three distinct outdoor areas for visitors to use.

Takeaway: Gensler is rebuilding the museum’s public face as much as its gallery space.

What opens in late 2027?

The new wing is scheduled to open in late 2027. That date marks the museum’s tenth anniversary at its current Design District location. Together, the two buildings will form a multi-site complex with eight new galleries, a full programming floor and a permanent collection display. The De la Cruz building will shut its doors when construction starts.

Takeaway: by late 2027, ICA Miami will run two linked buildings instead of one.

Gartenfeld’s story-driven approach faces its first public test in late 2027, when the first six-month rotation of more than 2,000 works opens to visitors.