The Butterfly Theater is a living pavilion—part sculpture, part habitat, part playground. It takes inspiration from the elegance of flamingos and the presence of butterflies in Miami Beach, transforming the park’s open center into a place of movement, color, and quiet spectacle. It’s both a temporary event and a potential permanent resident: a soft landmark in the city’s landscape.
Like a flock of flamingos wading in shallow water, a field of thin steel columns stands lightly across the grass. Some are paired, some are staggered, creating a sense of rhythm and flow. Painted in soft, bright colors, they form a loose grid that’s playful, navigable, and ever-changing depending on your point of view.
PROGRAM: Butterfly Habitat
CONTEXT: Miami Beach, Florida, USA
SITE: Flamingo Park
TEAM: Bryan Maddock, Grace Infante
ORGANIZER: The City of Miami Beach
The Butterfly Theater anchors Flamingo Park’s central axis, echoing the park’s formal oval design. Tall outer columns define its perimeter, giving scale and rhythm to the flat landscape. From afar, visitors see a colorful forest of vertical lines. Drawn inward by the stepped form, they enter an unshaded central clearing—an open-air stage where butterflies animate the space like performers.
