What Is The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District
Located in Downtown Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, the Miami Beach Architectural District is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The district is a living museum, with many of its notable buildings dating back to the late 19th century.
The district is roughly defined as running roughly parallel to the shoreline between Northwest Eighth Street and Northwest 16th Street, and mostly along Ocean Drive. The section of Ocean Drive that runs through the district is also known as the Brickell Cut, a name that refers to a section of the townhouse-style buildings that line the road.
The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District is also home to the Museum of Art Deco, which documents the architecture of this iconic architectural style. Also in the district is the Ocean Drive Financial District, which is home to some of South Beach’s most luxurious hotels and restaurants.
The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses a diverse collection of Southern and Eastern American Second Empire, Beaux Arts and Art Deco architecture. This architectural style, which was most popular from 1885 to 1925, is characterized by stylized repetitive shapes, bold colors and elegant detailing.
Deco architecture was used in many forms, including commercial and residential architecture, government and financial buildings and numerous other architectural styles.
Why Is The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District Special
The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District was once a thriving, bustling neighborhood that featured several thriving businesses and thriving lives. However, due to a number of factors, including rapid development and building codes that were difficult to understand and comply with, the neighborhood has not seen the same level of growth or character that it once did.
The Miami Beach Art Deco District, officially known as the Miami Beach Architectural District, was created in 1927 when the city granted a lease to the diseased, if charming, Belgian Hotel Baronne to build a series of hotels.
The name “Art Deco” was applied to these new hotels because of the vibrant, decorative architecture inspired by the art deco movement in Europe. At its zenith, Art Deco marked the highpoint of luxury architecture in the late 1920s and early ’30s. With the onset of the Great Depression, however, the district’s fortunes declined, and by the late ’40s, it was left in ruins.
Just a few years later, however, a group of wealthy, Lido-loving Miami Beach residents helped to save the district’s Art Deco legacy by purchasing the Baronne and transforming it into a luxury resort called the Biltmore. The Biltmore was a critical success, and today, it is perhaps better known as a hotel than as an architectural landmark.
From its inception in 1927 until 1942, the Art Deco District of Miami Beach was home to some of the most famous hotels in the world, including the Biltmore, the Horizon, the Colonial and the Miami Beach Hotel.
The Biltmore And Miami Beach Casino
The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District is perhaps most famous for its two hotel towers: the Biltmore and the Miami Beach Casino. Considered together, they make up the lobby of South Beach, and together, they form perhaps the most recognizable structure in all of Miami Beach.
The Biltmore was completed in 1941 and the casino in 1950. Both hotels were inspired by European architecture and were built to showcase the unique architecture of the two buildings. The Biltmore featured an astonishing 40-foot-tall crystal chandelier imported from France and installed in the rotunda at the hotel’s center.
Windows on three sides of the crystal chandelier were themed to portray the ocean, with their sheer weight, crashing against the rocks and crests of the waves below.
Famous Interiors Of The Miami Beach Architectural District
The Miami Beach Architectural District is also home to the most famous interiors in American architecture. The Art Deco Miami Beach Hotel Interiors, opened in 1931 as the Delano, is perhaps best known for its signature 70-foot-tall chandelier.
The hotel also featured a unique restaurant — the Delano Roof Top Grill. Located there was the Delano’s penthouse, which featured expansive views of Downtown Miami and the bay.
Key Buildings And Monuments Of The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District
The Deco Miami Beach Architectural District is also home to two of the most recognizable and popular tourist attractions in Miami: the Art Deco Miami Beach Hotel and the Biltmore. The Art Deco Hotel was the first hotel in the city to feature a rotating restaurant deck. The second floor also housed the Delano, the hotel’s first nightclub.
The Art Deco Miami Beach Hotel features an abundance of ornate detailing, from its staircase balustrades to its hand-painted murals. The hotel is also remarkably architectural, with each floor designed to seamlessly transition into the next.
The interior of the Biltmore features a mix of European and American design elements, including Hungarian crystal chandeliers, gilded mirrors and soaring vaulted ceilings. The Miami Beach Casino is famous for its Art Deco architecture and features a rotunda with a gilded dome inspired by the Vatican.
The Miami Beach Casino
The Miami Beach Casino is perhaps the most recognizable building in the city and also perhaps the most controversial. The hotel opened in 1951 and was considered to be the first casino in the United States and hailed as a technological marvel with the first polychrome paint used in the U.S. and one of the first color tv sets in an outdoor sports arena.
The building is also home to the world’s largest marble mosaic and the largest gold-plated pipe organ in the world.
The Biltmore Hotel
The year was 1927, the place, The Biltmore Hotel in the city of Miami Beach. This five-star hotel, with its famous curved staircases, was designed by architect George Johnson, a native of Scotland who came to America and became an architect. But his best work was yet to come.
Johnson’s signature designs are found all over this iconic property from the stunning lobby fountain, the glittering ballroom to the hazy interior courtyard. There’s another reason why you should give this building another look, it’s home to one of the most famous interiors in American architectural history, the Deco Miami Beach Architectural District, aka The District.
This area on South Ocean Avenue is instantly recognizable for its curving black-and-white Art Deco architecture and neon signs that spell out words like “Chandelier” or “Hotel Bellboy”.
Over time, many of these distinctive buildings have fallen into disrepair or been demolished to make way for new projects; however, their unique architecture and striking design has ensured that they will always be an integral part of Miami Beach culture.
The Biltmore is a three-time architectural winner and is one of the most recognizable hotels in the world. The building is also home to the world’s largest crystal chandelier and one of the most beautiful hotel pools in the world.
The Art Deco Fountain in the Lobby
Just a few steps away from the Miami Beach Casino and Biltmore is the fountain that inspired one of the most famous art deco figures in all of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright. The Frank Lloyd Wright Deco Fountain was designed by noted American architect, Julia Morgan, and it was inaugurated in 1955.
Although it was inspired by the art deco style, the fountain is actually octagonal in shape, with a circular basin and a central spire that rises 24 stories above the water. The fountain also houses an installed light show that can be operated manually or remotely.
The Miami Beach Hotel & Spa
Just a few steps away from the Biltmore and the Miami Beach Hotel and Spa is the iconic Art Deco-inspired hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria. The Waldorf-Astoria was designed by famous architect, John Russell, and it opened in 1913 as the first luxury hotel in the city. It was also the site of many historic events, including the 1921 debut of talkies.