This is What Happens When AI Meets the Miami Design District

The Miami Design District has never been interested in doing things the expected way. So when the neighborhood announced a collaboration with EDGLRD — the boundary-pushing digital studio founded by filmmaker Harmony Korine — on a visionary AI-driven short film, it felt less like a surprise and more like an inevitability. Two creative forces defined by the relentless pursuit of what’s next, making something together that has genuinely never been made before.

The film envisions the Miami Design District as a surreal, biophilic dreamscape — a world where digital nature grows from storefronts, buildings breathe, and the city transforms in sync with a lone character’s journey through it. It is a fictional version of the neighborhood, but an emotionally resonant one, built on a lush visual palette of oranges and teals that directly references the District’s maximalist ethos. Paper textures and high-fashion displays merge with fantastical organic forms, producing something the studio describes as a visual poem — equal parts digital couture and speculative ecology.

What makes this project genuinely significant is the technical territory it breaks. This marks the first time AI has been used to animate real animal movements integrated into stylized, holographically inspired projections — a combination of tactile artistry and next-generation technology that has not been attempted in this way before. Prompt-engineered AI styleframes were used to rapidly explore and iterate on visual direction rooted in biophilic architecture and mixed-media composition, while real footage of the Miami Design District was merged with handcrafted visual elements and digital surrealism throughout.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Miami Design District

For EDGLRD’s creative director, the intention was never to showcase technology for its own sake. “It was to explore how emotional, human-centered storytelling can emerge from it,” they note. “We used AI as a collaborator to discover, not just execute.” Korine, who founded EDGLRD as a digital IP-based studio producing cutting-edge work across film, gaming, advertising, and sensory experiences, frames the project in equally expansive terms. “We were inspired to play with the visual energy inside the Design District and to integrate new animated forms and explore the feeling of sensory exploration.”

Inspired by the theme “always more” — a phrase that captures the Miami Design District’s philosophy as precisely as any three words could — the film arrives at a moment when the neighborhood’s cultural ambition has never been more apparent. Owned and operated by Miami Design District Associates, a partnership between Dacra, founded by Craig Robins, and L Catterton Real Estate, the District has long positioned itself at the intersection of luxury, art, design, and architecture. This collaboration with EDGLRD extends that positioning into an entirely new creative frontier.

FAQ

What is the Miami Design District and EDGLRD short film? The Miami Design District and EDGLRD, the digital creative studio founded by Harmony Korine, are collaborating on a visionary AI-driven short film that envisions the neighborhood as a surreal biophilic dreamscape. The film merges AI-assisted animation, real footage of the Miami Design District, and handcrafted visual elements into a short film described as a visual poem of digital couture and speculative ecology.

Who is EDGLRD, and who founded it? EDGLRD is a digital IP-based creative studio founded by filmmaker Harmony Korine. The studio produces cutting-edge work across film, gaming, advertising, sensory experiences, and content, driven by a proprietary suite of entertainment software that utilizes artificial intelligence, visual effects, CGI, virtual reality, and augmented reality.

When does the Miami Design District EDGLRD short film debut? The short film is scheduled for release in December 2025, ahead of Art Basel Miami. It will be accessible via miamidesigndistrict.com and the Miami Design District’s social channels.

What makes the EDGLRD Miami Design District film technically groundbreaking? The film marks the first time AI has been used to animate real animal movements integrated into stylized, holographic-inspired projections. It also uses prompt-engineered AI styleframes to rapidly develop visual direction rooted in biophilic architecture and merges real footage of the Miami Design District with handcrafted visual elements and digital surrealism — a combination that has not been attempted in this specific form before.

What is the Miami Design District? The Miami Design District is a luxury neighborhood in Miami combining high-end shopping, galleries, museums, design stores, restaurants, and major art and design installations within an architecturally significant context. It is owned and operated by Miami Design District Associates, a partnership between Dacra, founded by Craig Robins, and L Catterton Real Estate.

What is the creative theme behind the Miami Design District EDGLRD film? The film is inspired by the theme “always more,” a reference to the Miami Design District’s maximalist ethos. It features a lush visual palette of oranges and teals, merging paper textures, high-fashion displays, and fantastical organic forms to create a fictional yet emotionally resonant version of the neighborhood — one where nature and high design co-exist in unexpected ways.