A pop-up preview of James Corner Field Operations’ Miami Underline will open on Tuesday (23 August) to showcase how the landscape architects plan to transform the land beneath the city’s MetroRail into a 10 mile linear park.

The pop-up will take place at the Underline’s ‘Brickell Backyard’ fitness area, located at the north end of the Miami River, at 10.30am EDT.

Event-goers – who are being encouraged to come to the preview on their bikes – will include a ribbon-cutting for the site’s new mini pop-up gym, free workouts on the outdoor fitness equipment, yoga sessions and opportunities to view the renderings of the park design.

Picnic areas, native vegetation, a nature-inspired playground, a dog park, a basketball court and art installations will be added to the site later to form the Brickell Underline Park.

Other Underline segments will follow; similarly combining urban trails, cycle and pedestrian paths, green leisure spaces and a showcase for art along the underutilised spaced beneath the MetroRail – a rapid-transit system that opened in 1984 and runs through the city's urban core.

Miami-Dade mayor Carlos A. Gimenez has said the Underline is one of his main priorities, as it will connect communities, promote healthier lifestyles and encourage residents to walk, bike or ride transit as an alternative to driving.

The project is the result of a public/ private collaboration between Miami-Dade Parks, Miami-Dade Transportation and Public Works and non-profit group Friends of The Underline.

It is part of the county’s Masterplan Greenway network that consists of 500 miles of trails and connected public spaces.

The pop-up preview is the latest example of developers and landscape architects partnering to provide a physical example of what a planned project might feel like. In October 2015 the developers of the Lowline in New York – an underground park inspired by James Corner’s High Line in the city – used crowdfunding to open a scaled down version of the project as a test bed.

Miami’s ‘Brickell Backyard’ pop-up has been developed at a cost of US$47,000 (€41,500, £36,000). Funding for the gym equipment has been provided by Community Outlay Reserve Funds.

James Corner Field Operations brings to life plans for Miami’s Underline

James Corner Field Operations to design Miami’s Underline