Freedom Tower Miami
Overview
Made in partnership with Miami Dade College, The Freedom Tower stands as one of Miami’s most iconic landmarks, yet its layered history has often gone unrecognized. Originally built as the city’s first skyscraper and home to a major newspaper, the building later became a critical processing center for more than 400,000 Cuban refugees in the mid-20th century—marking it as both a civic symbol and a site of profound personal transition.
As part of a major renovation led by Miami Dade College, the project reimagines the tower as a public-facing cultural experience—one that honors its historical significance while opening it to new and diverse audiences.
The approach centers on lived experience. Through an extensive oral history initiative, hundreds of personal stories were collected from individuals connected to the tower. These voices form the emotional core of the museum, grounding the experience in memory, testimony, and human connection rather than a singular institutional narrative.
Spanning multiple floors, the design transforms the building into a layered storytelling environment. Each space employs a distinct combination of media, light, sound, and physical scenography—moving between intimate moments and large-scale immersion. This shifting rhythm allows the history to unfold with nuance, encouraging visitors to engage with the building not as a static monument, but as a living archive of migration, resilience, and identity.
Developed as a Motion Designer at Local Projects
Contribution
I contributed to the Freedom Tower project across multiple phases, from early concept development through design development, and into production on four key experiences: the Introductory Video, Reflections of Miami, El Refugio: “Leaving Cuba”, and Voices of Miami. Each piece draws from a shared oral history archive, grounding the museum in lived experience and personal testimony.
Introductory Video
The experience begins with a large-scale orientation film that traces the evolution of the Freedom Tower—from its origins as the headquarters of The Miami News to its role as a Cuban Refugee Center. Interwoven with archival material, firsthand accounts of exile and resettlement introduce visitors to the building as both a physical landmark and an emotional threshold—one defined by displacement, resilience, and the search for community.
Reflections of Miami
El Refugio: “Leaving Cuba”
This multi-room immersive experience traces the journey of Cuban exiles from departure to arrival. It begins with Leaving Cuba, a projection-mapped installation that captures the emotional weight of migration—referencing the limited belongings many carried with them. Visitors then move through a sequence of spaces combining historical artifacts, media, and interactive elements. Throughout, audio drawn directly from oral histories creates a deeply personal and cohesive narrative thread.
Voices of Miami
