The Museum of Ice Cream’s Latest Edition Lands in Miami Beach

It was an Instagram sensation from day one. After the Museum of Ice Cream popped up in New York two years ago, temporary outposts in Los Angeles and San Francisco quickly followed. More installation than museum, the multisensory spectacle—visitors can try melted ice-cream drinks made in-house or dip in a pool of plastic sprinkles—is the sweet, nostalgic vision of the museum’s founder and creative director Maryellis Bunn, who graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in strategic design and management.

The latest edition has landed in Miami Beach. Occupying a landmarked former hotel, the four-story experience takes cues from its surroundings. “I think of Miami Beach as a flavor profile,” Bunn says. “There’s a lot of zest.” A room wrapped in what looks like pink bubble wrap, for instance, is actually chromed faux coconut halves. Murals feature shapes inspired by art deco architecture. Huge reproductions of ice cream cones have integral fans to cool sweaty bodies as beats blast from speakers. “I’ve seen people do full salsa routines,” she adds.

Ice cream may be the conceit, but it all began with the designer pondering how she could bring imagination to life at scale. Speaking of which, Bunn has scoops of ambition: Her ultimate goal is to design an entire city.