An instant Instagram star with a global pedigree was born along the New River on Friday — so is downtown Fort Lauderdale cool yet?
The area took another step in that direction over the summer when Society Las Olas opened on the river under the umbrella of Property Markets Group, a developer of “social apartment communities” in New York and Chicago.

A hip energy — sophisticated, but not exclusively youthful — is intrinsic to the Society brand, transmitted through cultural programming, modern design and often dramatic visual cues.
At a PMG apartment project on Chicago’s Logan Square, they hoisted a retired Chicago Transit Authority train car onto a second-floor deck to create a rooftop bar.

On Friday morning, PMG made a statement at Society Las Olas by unveiling a 14-ton, 27-foot sculpture titled “Thrive,” by South African artist Daniel Popper, best known for towering works at international music festivals and the beaches of Tulum, Mexico. Popper’s work also will be showcased at PMG’s Society Wynwood, which breaks ground next year.

“Thrive” is a seraphic female figure with a passageway laced in greenery under the front portico of Society Las Olas, near the brick-lined Riverwalk. Facing entertainment hot spot the Wharf Fort Lauderdale, the sculpture is destined to become a must-see on any Instagram trail through downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Popper says “Thrive” is a direct descendant of his most iconic permanent work, the massive female figure titled “Ven a La Luz” (Come into the Light), on the beach in Tulum.
“It’s the same idea. That one is made out of wood. This is just a more urban version,” Popper said after the unveiling.

“Thrive” is made from glass-fiber-reinforced concrete, and its rugged contours pierced by a deep vertical crevasse, offer an unintended benefit for some, and a problem for others.
“It is very climbable. It’s very strong. The structure will support you, but I don’t recommend it,” Popper said.

If “Thrive” gives off a Burning Man vibe not typically associated with downtown Fort Lauderdale, PMG managing partner Ryan Shear is fine with that.
“As a culture, at PMG, we definitely have a chip on our shoulder to challenge norms, for what it’s worth,” said Shear, 37. “If you look at the building Society itself, it is not a down-the-fairway, multifamily building. There’s a lot of unconventional things we do from a business sense, a design sense.”

Shear grew up in Miami and spent his youth hanging out on South Beach, at Cocowalk and Riverfront, the dust of which lies under Society Las Olas. He says the reputation of downtown Fort Lauderdale is changing quickly, citing the opening next door of the Wharf and Bodega Taqueria, two energetic brands associated with Miami.

“[The sculpture is] not what I would call a downtown Fort Lauderdale custom piece. [But] maybe it will be. I, personally, am a huge believer in something that stops and makes people think,” Shear said.
Like Popper’s work in Tulum, the woman in “Thrive” is depicted pulling her chest open, creating a void to walk through. Popper said viewers can make their own interpretation, but he describes the figure as exposing “her inner garden.”
Popper said support for research into the lung disease cystic fibrosis is an element in his work, acknowledged in a plaque next to “Thrive.”

Speaking at the base of the sculpture, Mayor Dean Trantalis called it “a symbol of who we are here in Fort Lauderdale.”

“This represents women’s empowerment. It’s important to our community because we believe in the diversity of our people, whether it be gender diversity, whether it be racial diversity, orientation diversity,” he said.

Shear said such symbolism also resonated at PMG.
“Thematically, we tend to have female empowerment pieces. Our firm, I think, is more female than male, which is rare … for development firms. So, in general, we’re attracted to pieces like that,” he says.