Flying car is on display at PARAMOUNT Miami WorldCenter
Call it a labor of liftoff. It took 12 years for Dutch firm PAL-V to build a flying car that looks as sharp as it takes off and lands.
If that doesn’t count as art, Leonardo da Vinci, whose sketchbooks were filled with designs for a prototype helicopter, would like a word.
The PAL-V, which stands for personal air landing vehicle, will star in “Miami 2020 and Beyond,” a Miami Art Week exhibit hosted by PARAMOUNT Miami WorldCenter. While it will not be in flight, it is for sale:
The retail price is $599,000, and a pilot’s license is required. Seventy units have already been sold.
The blockbuster tower is a fitting location for the vehicle: PARAMOUNT developer Dan Kodsi topped the building with a sky deck that will someday be retrofitted to accommodate vehicles such as the PAL-V.
“While it might seem like science fiction, the reality is that autonomous flying vehicles have been in the works for many years,” Kodsi said in an email. “It’s not far-fetched as the technology exists today.”
Kodsi points to companies such as Amazon, which has announced that drones will soon be delivering packages, and Uber, which plans to test air taxis in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Dubai in 2020. Meanwhile, corporate automobile and aviation giants like Porsche and Boeing estimate that commercial passenger drones will hit the market around 2025.
“Technology is evolving at light speed and Miami as a City of the Future and PARAMOUNT as a forwardthinking building should be prepared for this exciting new form of transportation,” Kodsi said. “I designed this building with that mindset of how people will be living in the future. Of course, as a recreational pilot, I’m also well aware of the regulatory hurdles that will need to be cleared.”
The PAL-V will be on display on PARAMOUNT’S first-floor space at 851 NE First Ave. through Wednesday. The vehicle and the sky deck will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
PARAMOUNT will also debut artworks that it is adding to its collection. These include a painting by Steven Manolis and canvases by acclaimed Miami-based street artist David Anasagasti. Anasagasti’s murals depicting “drowsy eyes” have gained attention with a recent showing at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach and Wynwood’s newly debuted Museum of Graffiti. Two canvases, measuring 12 feet by 14 feet and 12 feet by 15 feet, feature his trademark “eyes” in spray paints combining silvers, grays, and whites in step with the tones of the PARAMOUNT lobby and the building’s sophisticated urban design.
Other works include dreamy, floating sculptures by Tatiana Blanco, paintings by Janos, photographs by Rafael Balcazar, prints by Gonzalo Fuenmayor, and pieces by other acclaimed artists.
Rob Wile: 305-376-3203, rjwile