The Underline opens its Brickell Backyard

The Underline’s first phase, Brickell Backyard, has opened beneath the Metrorail. Completed in February, the project turns land associated with transportation into a public place that can also be used for recreation and everyday neighborhood life.

That combination is especially relevant in Brickell, where the spaces between buildings matter as much as the buildings themselves. A route can become somewhere to pause, meet a friend or spend time outdoors rather than simply pass through.

The opening concerns this first phase, not the completion of the entire Underline. Its immediate value is local and practical: a new piece of public space is available now. How residents use it will help define its character more convincingly than any rendering could.