SOUTHERN JEWELS
Tell someone you’re headed to Miami and they’ll likely assume you mean the party shores of South Beach. Although Florida’s most storied city lives up to its reputation as a hedonist’s haven, it has also grown into a major center for art and design.
Most building buffs already know about the meticulously maintained pastel facades of the city’s Art Deco District. But these days, another design movement, Miami Modern (also known as MiMo), is gaining popularity for fun, futuristic hotels and condos built in the 1950s and ’60s. MiMo style is characterized by rakish angles, asymmetry, and futuristic space-age forms.
The most famous example of Miami Modern architecture is the Fontainebleau Hotel, designed by MiMo guru Morris Lapidus. Fontainebleau is best known for its trademark concrete and glass, curvy lines, and flamboyant style. The hotel is currently undergoing a $1 billion renovation set for completion next summer. Just next door is another Lapidus design, the Eden Roc Renaissance Resort. This property is also under renovation and is set to reopen in January. Other don’t-miss examples include the Casablanca Hotel, where the awning is seemingly held up by a row of giant genies, and International Inn, a kitschy, cantilevered construction over Biscayne Bay.
Just as the glitz of the Art Deco District was first associated with the carefree indulgence of the flapper era of the 1920s and ’30s, the postwar hotels now regarded as MiMo were once glamorized by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, and Lena Horne. Many of the buildings are located in North Beach. You can explore them on your own or schedule a guided tour through the Miami Design Preservation League. Get more info at mdpl.org.
-- Chantal Martineau
