From left: Zaha Hadid, a rendering of her Collins Park garage and 111 N. Lincoln Rd

More renowned architects are designing parking garages in Miami Beach, which has become a bastion for championing form in a structure known mostly for its function, the Wall Street Journal noted.

In addition to Arquitectonica’s planned parking and retail complex in Sunset Harbour and a separate residential development that includes a garage designed by OMA, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’ firm, Zaha Hadid will design a $12.5 million, city-financed garage in the Collins Park neighborhood. [more]

Construction on the parking garages for the new Florida Marlins stadium is set to begin in May with a December 2011 completion date. The $75 million project will include four parking garages, six surface lots and a retail space. Boston-based Suffolk Construction, which is in charge of the project, will be working alongside other construction crews that are building the $640 million stadium.

TRD

Miami commissioner Tomás Regalado, now the front-runner in the race to succeed Mayor Manny Diaz, thinks the city needs a break from rapid development. Regalado recently criticized the Mayor’s plans for parking garages at the new baseball stadium in Little Havana, and Miami 21, the overhaul of the city’s zoning code, though both passed. Critics say the candidate, a 13-year veteran of city politics, has little in the way of constructive plans, despite his critiques of major projects over the last eight years. [Miami Herald]