Snøhetta embraces "positivity and joy" for Museum of Sex in Miami

Architecture studio Snøhetta has renovated a Miami warehouse for the second location of the Museum of Sex, including a colourful permanent exhibition filled with sex-themed arcade games.

The completed 32,000 square foot (2,972 square metre) Museum of Sex expansion is located in Miami's Allapattah neighbourhood, in a warehouse that formerly housed the Miami Herald distribution center.

Snøhetta designed concepts for the exterior, lobby and retail store, the temporary exhibition space, a bar, and galleries and immersive experiences, including the museum's permanent exhibition Super Funland, based around "the erotic history of the carnival".

According to the studio, it focused the design of the Miami outpost around the levity established by the Museum of Sex.

"Snøhetta's collaboration with the Museum of Sex is rooted in positivity and joy," said Snøhetta interior architecture discipline director Anne-Rachel Schiffmann.

"As we have pursued creating places that bring people together, our team embraced the levity that characterizes Museum of Sex, working to translate this perspective into a collection of interiors that embrace fun, laughter, and unity." ​

The building's exterior is unassuming, washed with a grey paint and a large Museum of Sex decal in the upper right corner. Pink stairs lead up to the entrance, and a thin band of windows runs along an overhang on the facade.

For the museum's opening, two main exhibitions are on display, the permanent Super Funland and the Hajime Sorayama: Desire Machines exhibit by the Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama, his first solo show in the US.

The Super Funland exhibition is characterised by a patterned floor, colourful lighting and an assortment of arcade games, such as the Pornamatic and Rawhide, a mechanical bull. Snøhetta worked with Daniel Gluck and Serge Becker of the Museum of Sex for the exhibition.

In an adjoining room, Sorayama's exhibition features large-scale versions of the artist's "sexy robots", an exploration of his artwork that often features the female form rendered as a robot.

The remaining space contains the temporary exhibition Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency, which explores the history of sexual health and a gift shop, furnished with a large central display case.

The museum's lobby is painted with a bright, pink pattern, reflecting the exterior stair.

The Museum of Sex first opened in 2002, with its flagship in New York designed by American studio SHoP Architects.

Snøhetta also recently completed a children's centre in Texas shaped like a cloud and is working on the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota.

The photography is by Michael Stavaridis

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