Snøhetta converts Miami warehouse for the Museum of Sex's newest outpost ​

A multifunctional center to explore the history, evolution, and cultural significance of human desire

Installation View Hajime Sorayama: Desire Machines at Museum of Sex Miami. ©Hajime Sorayama. Courtesy of NANZUKA and Museum of Sex

From fine art and historical collectibles to film, the Museum of Sex preserves an ever-growing collection of sexuality-related ephemera with exhibitions and programming that reveals the best of current scholarship while sparking public discourse and engagement of the topic. It's fun too!

Located in the Miami neighborhood of Allapattah, the new iteration of the Museum of Sex is a sensory experience about more than just the human body, but an exploration of form, space, and play for adults. The 32,000 sq ft building was the former home of the Miami Herald distribution center and is the newest development within a post-industrial, emerging cultural hub. The space will house a collection of permanent and temporary exhibitions and is the second location for the New York City-based museum.

Design played an integral role in the execution of the museum’s mission to preserve and present the history, evolution, and cultural significance of human desire. As collaborators on the project, we produced design concepts for the exterior, lobby and retail store, the temporary exhibition space, the Carnal Carnival bar, as well as the galleries and immersive experiences. Our concepts included a 40-foot-wide "rococo style" mermaid tank and fountain and 20 other interactive spaces and games for the permanent exhibition Super Funland, a grand space centered on the erotic history of the carnival.

"Snøhetta's collaboration with the Museum of Sex is rooted in positivity and joy. As we have pursued creating places that bring people together, our team embraced the levity that characterizes Museum of Sex, working to translate this perspective into a collection of interiors that embrace fun, laughter, and unity." ​
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​-Snøhetta interior architecture discipline director, Anne-Rachel Schiffmann

The inaugural exhibition of the Miami outpost includes work by Hajime Sorayama, known for his detailed portrayals of feminine robots. The Japanese artist's first solo show in the US explores the eroticism of human bodies through his signature hyperrealist aesthetic, featuring four large-scale ‘sexy robot’ sculptures. Also showing at the museum is a scaled-up version of the exhibition that has entertained New Yorkers since 2019, ‘Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival’. This permanent installation, inspired by the eroticism of the carnival, presents an immersive ‘fairground’ with an otherworldly triptych by Hajime Sorayama, measuring over 14 ft. high.

This purpose-built space is an environment for friends to come together, for encouraging wonder while strolling the multicolored halls of memorabilia, and for educating audiences on the pivotal and diverse role of sensuality within the realms of the arts, science, and culture.

Images by Michael Stavaridis

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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

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