There’s a traffic jam off the coast of Miami Beach. Twenty-two cars, bumper to bumper, 20 feet underwater. They’re not abandoned—they’re art by ReefLine. And in a few months, they’ll disappear entirely beneath a forest of coral.
This December, during Miami Art Week, the long-anticipated ReefLine officially launched with Concrete Coral, a monumental installation by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich. Picture ghostly sedans and SUVs built from marine-grade, low-carbon concrete, slowly being reclaimed by the ocean—colonized by soft corals, schools of fish, and the shifting light of Miami’s turquoise waters.
Why Miami Sank a Traffic Jam Into the Sea
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine.
Florida has lost 90% of its coral in just 40 years. The reef that once protected Miami’s coast is dying. ReefLine isn’t just art—it’s a Hail Mary for an ecosystem on the edge.
Conceived by cultural innovator Ximena Caminos, the project transforms what could have been a dystopian image—cars swallowed by the sea—into a bold gesture of ecological hope. Each of the 22 vehicles, some weighing up to 16 tons, was engineered to function as marine habitat, built in partnership with the Miami Native Coral Lab using Coral Lok™ technology that allows coral fragments to be transplanted securely.
In the coming months, thousands of fast-growing Miami-native corals will be seeded across the cars. The vision: a reef overtaking a traffic jam, nature reclaiming the residue of human impact.
“ReefLine transforms Miami’s coastline into an open-air classroom and living lab where art accelerates science.”
— Ximena Caminos, Founder & Artistic Director of ReefLine
How to See It (And Why You Should Go Now)
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
The full vision: a 7-mile snorkel trail stretching the length of Miami Beach, designed by OMA‘s Shohei Shigematsu. Right now, you can swim to the first installation in about 15 minutes from shore, just off 4th and 5th Streets.
During Miami Art Week, the experience extended beyond the water: electric paddleboards designed with BMW x SipaBoards offer a zero-emission approach to the site. A monumental meditation buoy by Andrés Reisinger marked the location offshore. And visitors boarded ReefLine’s Floating Marine Learning Center—a hybrid research vessel where they could meet Leandro Erlich himself, alongside legendary ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle.
On shore, ReefLine’s headquarters hosts climate-conscious installations with O, Miami: a Plastic Poetry Wall made of recycled marine plastics, temperature-sensitive poems, and shell-based sound installations. The goal is to bring ocean literacy to street level.
When Art Becomes Habitat
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
This is environmental art in its most literal sense—not representing nature, but building it. As coral expert Colin Foord explains, the fast-growing gorgonian corals soon to be planted will quickly create “the appearance of a forest overgrowing a traffic jam.”
The installation becomes not just an artwork, but a functioning marine habitat. In a city increasingly shaped by climate adaptation and rising seas, ReefLine represents a new kind of public art—one that gives back more than it takes.
“Art reaches its fullest meaning when it’s experienced collectively. I hope the people of Miami will take pride in watching this living sculpture evolve.”
— Leandro Erlich, Artist
What Comes Next: 11 Phases, $40 Million, 7 Miles of Reef
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
Concrete Coral is just the first chapter. The long-term vision includes Petroc Sesti‘s Heart of Okeanos, The Miami Reef Star by Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre, new OMA-designed reef modules, and future works by Blue Arts Award recipients. Each addition will expand the underwater corridor—a chain of sculptures, hybrid reef structures, and ecological micro-habitats running the entire length of Miami Beach.
The initiative is partly funded by a voter-approved $5 million Miami Beach Arts & Culture G.O. Bond, with a goal of raising $40 million to complete all 11 phases. While the current installation sits too deep and too far offshore to directly protect the coast, it lays critical groundwork for understanding how hybrid reefs can support biodiversity and serve as test beds for marine science.
You Can Plant Coral Yourself
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
ReefLine is training 10,000 Miami students to understand coral restoration through partnerships like Dream in Green‘s Green Schools Challenge. But the most extraordinary opportunity is open to everyone: the Community Coral Outplanting Program invites local residents to transplant coral fragments themselves—becoming part of the reef’s future.
Monthly sessions aboard the Floating Marine Learning Center, run with the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef program, offer hands-on learning. It’s environmental stewardship you can touch, plant, and watch grow.
A Reef That Outlives Us All
Leandro Erlich, photo by Steve Kehayias.
In five years, these cars will be unrecognizable—buried under coral, home to thousands of fish. That’s the point.
ReefLine isn’t building a monument. It’s building a reef. And if it works, Miami might just have figured out how to make art that outlives us all—an artwork that promises not just beauty, but life.
For a city perched at the edge of dramatic environmental transitions, that’s more than public art. That’s hope.
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
Leandro Erlich’s “Concrete Coral” for ReefLine, photo by Nola Schoder.
