The City of Miami Beach is marking a historic milestone with the first-ever deployment of the REEFLINE, a pioneering underwater sculpture park and hybrid reef designed to blend art, science, and environmental protection.
A beachside celebration is set for Tuesday, Oct. 21, between 4th and 5th streets, beginning at 1 p.m., to commemorate the launch of a first-of-its-kind project, which will ultimately span seven miles off the Miami Beach coast.
The inaugural installation, titled Concrete Coral by internationally recognized artist Leandro Erlich, involves submerging 22 life-sized, marine-grade concrete cars arranged as a surreal underwater traffic jam, 20 feet below the ocean’s surface, 780 feet offshore. The deployment — viewable from the beach near 5th Street — will take place on Oct. 20-21 and again on Oct. 27-28, as a 159-foot construction barge lowers the sculptural forms into the water.
The project is framed as a crucial piece of the city’s environmental defense strategy.
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“The REEFLINE installation is more than a stunning fusion of art and science; it's a critical long-term economic safeguard for Miami Beach,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, in a statement.
“Healthy reefs are our natural infrastructure, shielding our treasured beachfront and vital tourism revenue by powerfully reducing storm surge and erosion," he said. "This monumental, science-based project offers an innovative solution for protecting our marine ecosystems and cultural landscape.”
The installation is backed by the 2022 voter-approved Arts & Culture General Obligation Bond, money committed cultural and ecological preservation.
Once deployed, the concrete cars of Concrete Coral will be seeded with 2,200 corals cultivated in REEFLINE’s Miami Native Coral Lab.
The project will utilize Coral Lok, an innovative technology designed to enable fast, secure, and sustainable coral transplantation. It will transform the artwork — which turns “a symbol of urban congestion into a living reef” — into a new habitat that enhances marine ecosystems, offering a "poetic reversal of humanity’s environmental footprint," say designers.
The REEFLINE was conceived by cultural placemaker Ximena Caminos, with a master plan by Shohei Shigematsu/OMA, as a model for coastal cities globally.
“REEFLINE shows how creativity can drive real solutions for a changing planet,” said Caminos, REEFLINE's founder and artistic director.
“We’re transforming art into an engine for marine ecosystem enhancement and education. What begins in Miami Beach — once seen as ground zero for sea level rise— can become a model for cities around the world."
The 11-phase project aims to raise $40 million to expand its underwater corridor across the full 7-mile length of Miami Beach, with the ultimate goal of outplanting thousands of corals.
