Miami Reef Star. (site specific installation by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre with The Reefline, curated by Ximena Caminos and Dodie Kazanjian) 2024

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Miami Art Week x The ReefLine

For further information, please visit these links:  LINK TO CATALOG. 

The Miami Reefline.     VIdeo of the Miami Reef Star.   New York Times Article  Prototypes Fabrication.  DESIGNBOOM Article  Gagosian Quarterly Article   LINK TO THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.    ART NEWSPAPER DEZEEN Article   

THE MIAMI REEF STAR

December 3 - 8

36th Street & Beachfront

A large-scale sculptural installation by @carlosbetancourtartist in collaboration with @albertolatorrearchitecture on the South Beach shoreline, curated by @xcaminos.

The Miami Reef Star is a prototype for the artists’ contribution to @thereefline, a stunning underwater installation that will span 90 feet in diameter beneath the waters of Miami Beach. Visible even from airplanes, this piece showcases a powerful blend of artistic vision and environmental stewardship, redefining creativity and conservation.

 Join us to celebrate The ReefLine’s mission of inspiring a collective commitment to ocean preservation by merging art, science, and conservation.

Carlos Betancourt  X Alberto Latorre.   A temporary site-specific art installation on Miami Beach as part of Art Basel Miami Art week public arts program, in collaboration with the Miami Reefline.  Composed of prototypes assembled in a giant star shape, alluding to the relationship between the cosmos and the oceans. The prototypes help to further the research for the eventual final modules to be deployed in the ocean off Miami Beach where they  will contribute to create  to a hybrid reef as part of the Miami Reefline public project.   Tuesday December 3rd through Sunday December 8th, 2024. Miami Beach and 36th street, during daylight.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Miami Beach, FL.   The ReefLine continues to redefine the intersection of art, science, and environmental stewardship with the introduction of The Miami Reef Star, a groundbreaking underwater sculpture conceived by Miami-based artist Carlos Betancourt and artist–architect Alberto Latorre. Designed as both a poetic and functional structure, The Miami Reef Star expands the vision of The ReefLine, an evolving seven-mile underwater sculpture park and hybrid reef system positioning art not only as a cultural expression, but as an active participant in ecological restoration. 

The Miami Reef Star is a monumental sculptural constellation composed of approximately fifty modular elements that come together to form a striking star configuration. The system of star-shaped components was co-created by Latorre and Betancourt, emerging from a shared exploration of geometry, modularity, and marine habitation, and establishing the formal and spatial logic of the work. Each element is engineered to foster marine biodiversity, collectively shaping a powerful and legible figure on the ocean floor. The structures are 3D concrete–printed using the latest materials and fabrication technologies, allowing for precision, durability, and ecological sensitivity. Designed to attract marine life and provide shelter, these structures will serve as active marine habitats. In collaboration with marine scientists and conservation partners, coral will be transplanted onto the structures, enabling living reef systems to grow and evolve over time, contributing to the regeneration of Miami Beach’s underwater ecosystem. Upon deployment, The Miami Reef Star will be situated approximately 700 feet from the shoreline in about 21 feet of water depth, accessible from the shoreline by swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and scuba diving. The project reflects The ReefLine’s mission to merge public art with environmental resilience, transforming the ocean floor into a living cultural and ecological corridor.

For Betancourt and Latorre, The Miami Reef Star is a co-creation with a unified artistic vision. Together, Betancourt’s multidisciplinary practice rooted in memory, transformation, and beauty and Latorre’s artistic, forms and spacial sensibility infuse the work with poetic and conceptual depth, contributing to the artistic narrative and emotional resonance of the work. Together, they have conceived a living sculpture in which structure and poetry are inseparable creating an environment that exists simultaneously as artwork, habitat, and immersive experience.  The design is also informed by Miami Beach’s visual heritage—drawing inspiration from mid-century modern architecture and the expressive language of Morris Lapidus. This influence is evident in the project’s rhythmic geometries, and playful monumentality, translated here into an underwater context where light and marine life complete the composition.

Importantly, The Miami Reef Star has already begun to gain international visibility through a series of key presentations. Early prototypes were exhibited in Miami Beach during Miami Art Week 2024, offering the public a first encounter with the project’s sculptural language and ecological ambition. The work was also featured in the context of United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 (UNOC3), underscoring its alignment with global conversations around ocean conservation. Additionally, a refined model of The Miami Reef Star was presented in an exhibition associated with Prince Albert II of Monaco, further positioning the project within an international network of environmental and cultural leadership.

“The Miami Reef Star is about connection between past and future, nature and culture, fragility and resilience,” says Betancourt. Latorre adds, “We are working with the ocean as a collaborator, allowing the work to evolve over time as marine life inhabits and transforms it. This project is an artistic system as much as it is an environmental one, a living sculpture that continues to grow beyond us.”

As The ReefLine continues to unfold as one of the most ambitious public art and environmental initiatives in the world, The Miami Reef Star stands as a powerful testament to the role of artists,  designers and visionaries in shaping sustainable futures. Through the shared vision of Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre, the project invites audiences to reconsider the ocean not only as a site of beauty, but as a space for innovation, collaboration, and collective responsibility.

Deployment of The Miami Reef Star is currently anticipated for 2027.