South Florida 2025 - Miami's Art Deco District or Checking Off a Bucket List Item

 One thing I had looked forward to was experiencing the Art Deco section of Miami. I'm an architecture buff. If you live in Chicago this is almost mandatory as it contains an abundance of the finest examples of construction dating from the late 19th, clear to the 21st century. After 40 years I still come across treasures and surprises I have not seen before. 

I had seen photos of the district but these did not indicate scale. One of Chicago's premier pieces of Art Deco is the Carbon and Carbide building, a green and black, gold trimmed tower that stands tall on Michigan Avenue. While there are a couple of examples of taller structures in Miami most are of a more modest, human scale giving a quaint, approachable feel to the streets. Mixed among them are examples of Colonial Revival architecture inspired by styles prevalent in 16th century southern European and Central and South American traditions. 

The most dense part of the collection sits along Ocean Drive, which runs along the coastline, as well as Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue. Some are painted bright colors, others are pastels. It is a spectacle of curved, sleek lines and delightful friezes punctuated by the occasional porthole window. We strolled by the former home of Gianni Versace. Gunned down by a serial killer on the sidewalk outside, it is now a pricy, upscale restaurant. 

We enjoyed a cocktail and a complimentary glass of sangria, provided to keep us at the table as long as possible to make the establishment look busier, at a more reasonable priced venue along Lincoln Road, a pedestrian only shopping and dining district. It features Art Deco facades, whimsical sculptures and a pad containing percussive musical instruments where visitors can let their inner musicians run amok. The storefronts now contain the ubiquitous chains found in almost every mall across the country. The H&M store was once a movie theatre. It is a nice reuse, the bones of the theatre are still evident inside it. I found myself imagining the area as it was when first built, the fashionably dressed strolling down the streets, as opposed to the tee shirts, shorts and flip flops sported by most today. As we drove to and from Miami we passed the famous Fontainbleau Hotel, featured, along with Sean Connery in a pair of tight fitting swim trunks, in the opening scene of Goldfinger. 

Along with a couple of hours spent on the beach, at one point watching a German container being guided to the nearby port by two pilot boats, it was a lovely, albeit hot, way to cross off one of my second tier bucket list items.


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