Last October, Thomas Printworks took on a project that mimicked the Miami Florida sky. For the past few years, we've assisted in large format printing projects for Alan Faena, but this one set the limits sky high.
We helped print and install a building wrap that covered the historical Versailles Hotel during the annual Art Basel Festival. Much like a fence screen or fence wrap that is used to connect to the fence to create a design or hide construction behind it, we wrapped this historical building. The Versailles Hotel is located near the center of Miami Beach, right in the middle of the festivities. As they are under construction, the building wrap served a dual purpose- covering the construction as well as showing off beautiful art and participating in the festival.
This is a big refurbishing project Mr. Faena has going on there in Miami. The building next to the Versailles hotel was torn down and in its place, a new 41 unit tower is being constructed. This will be called the Faena Versailles Contemporary (Francisco Alvarado).
The existing 1940s building, famous for the bell tower on top, is being turned into "a 22-unit condominium...that will be called Faena Versailles Classic. Faena is preserving the facade, most of the grand lobby, terrazzo flooring and custom chandeliers. Each suite will include ocean views, and custom kitchens and bathrooms, ranging from one to four bedrooms. The building will also feature two duplex penthouses with up to 7,300 square feet" (Alvarado).
With all of this work going on and Miami's annual Art Basel festival soon approaching, Mr. Faena reached out to us with a special project.
A little bit about the design...
The idea behind this project was to "transform the historic Versailles hotel into the sky itself, disappearing and becoming transparent at sunrise and sunset"(@faenaart on instagram). This effect was made possible by using photographs of both the Miami sunrise and sunset from artist Miya Ando.
This project was titled "Sora Versailles". "Sora" meaning 'sky' or 'heaven' in Japanese, (Miya Ando). (If you go and check out her page, a picture of this project is located on the front home page! You can also watch a short clip of a time lapse of the building.)
Our sales representative overseeing the project, Juan Fernandez, said, "the pictures of the project do a great job, but there's nothing quite like walking down Collins Ave and just seeing this outstanding work of art stretch up to the sky".
In essence, this multipurpose building wrap masterpiece wowed many while accomplishing its purpose. Don't let projects take you out of commission; get a design and/or your name out there! Learn more about the opportunities to create branded environments.
Also, keep your eyes peeled for a new big project underway this fall!
