Case study · Projection mapping · Public experience
A site-specific projection-mapping experience presented at the historic Miami-Dade Courthouse on Flagler Street, celebrating Miami’s 125th anniversary by placing the city’s story directly onto one of downtown’s defining buildings.
Behind the experience
Create a visual centerpiece for Miami’s official 125th Birthday Celebration that felt unmistakably Miami, worked with the complex geometry of the historic Miami-Dade County Courthouse, and could communicate across a large public gathering on Flagler Street. The event took place on July 28, 2021—the exact anniversary of the city’s incorporation on July 28, 1896.
Thousands of Miami residents, families, downtown workers, business owners, visitors, civic partners, and cultural audiences gathered across the free, open-to-the-public event footprint. Because the outdoor block party was not ticketed, no exact gate count was recorded.
The Miami Downtown Development Authority served as a primary host and organizer of the celebration and partnered with graduates of Miami Dade College’s Miami Animation & Gaming International Complex. MIA Animation developed the creative treatment, concept art, facade studies, and animated content designed specifically for projection on the historic courthouse.
Use the courthouse as a living timeline. Architectural details became frames for color, movement, memory, and recognizable elements of Miami’s evolving identity, including early historical chapters, marine life, and tropical foliage.
Architectural projection mapping, 2D and 3D motion design, animation, compositing, and facade-aligned content production.
Creative development began with the celebration’s purpose and the building itself. Story beats were translated into original concepts and designed sequences, animated for architectural scale, and prepared around the technical map of the facade. The projection was integrated into a wider street-festival program featuring DJs and live performances by Flo Rida, Fetty Wap, and Spam All-Stars.
A massive, digitally mapped 3D projection covering the historic Miami-Dade County Courthouse facade. It served as the visual centerpiece of a free public block party along Historic Flagler Street, with the celebration filling the urban corridor around the courthouse.
The project gave Miami’s 125th birthday a highly visible public centerpiece—an experience tied to the city’s history, created for a shared community audience, and preserved as content that continues to represent the celebration online. It also demonstrated how local civic leadership and MAGIC creative talent could transform a landmark into a large-scale storytelling platform.
Event, concept art & project development
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