The Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach is preparing to turn a parking area into its next architectural statement.
The museum has selected the Los Angeles firm Johnston Marklee to design a new pavilion on 22,000 square feet of land now used for parking, advancing a long-planned expansion in Collins Park. The project will extend the institution’s campus around Russell Pancost’s Art Deco pavilion from the 1930s and build on Arata Isozaki’s 1995 concept for the site.
The proposal is still in its early stages, but the program is already clear. Johnston Marklee plans an elevated gallery for the museum’s growing permanent collection, an outdoor patio with both shaded and open areas, and a stage for screenings and events. The gallery is also intended to meet resiliency guidelines for flood, heat wave, and hurricane conditions in South Florida, where climate pressures increasingly shape museum planning.
The firm arrives with a substantial museum portfolio. Johnston Marklee has worked on the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program in Manhattan, the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, and a major renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. In Los Angeles, the practice has also designed spaces for Marian Goodman Gallery, Honor Fraser, Roberts Projects, and Various Small Fires.
Mark Lee, the firm’s founding partner, said in a statement that the team is “thrilled to reimagine the southwest corner of Collins Park for The Bass.” Sharon Johnston, also a founding partner, said the project is being shaped through “careful analysis of light and shadow, space and volume, and the surrounding park and urban context,” with the goal of increasing public access to the museum’s programs and artworks.
Silvia Karman Cubiñá, the museum’s executive director, framed the expansion as part of The Bass’s future after its 60th year. “We are firmly focused on the future,” she said, describing the project as a way to create “new, flexible spaces to gather, reflect and experience art in meaningful ways.”
No timeline, preliminary designs, or budget have been announced. The museum last completed a major renovation and expansion in 2015–17, a $12 million project that added about 10,000 square feet of exhibition and public space. In November 2022, it also received $20.1 million in city-issued funds as part of a municipal bond authorized by local voters.
The Bass remains one of Miami Beach’s most visible cultural anchors, especially each December when Art Basel brings an international art audience to the city. The new pavilion suggests the museum is positioning itself not only for larger crowds, but for a more durable civic role in a changing coastal environment.
