Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Art-Deco Architecture
For years now, south Miami Beach - also known as 'South Beach' for those
who may have been in a cave - has been 'hot,' in the shrieking, Paris
Hilton-induced awe-of-celebrity sense of the word, and it owes this cachet to
two words: art deco. It was deco that first made Miami Beach distinctive, and
when the celebs find a new spot to act sexy, it will (hopefully) be deco that re-
mains: the signature, sleek face of the American Riviera.
The deco district is bordered by Dade Blvd to the north, 6th St to the south, the Atlantic
Ocean to the east and Lenox Ave to the west. The 1-sq-mile district feels like a small vil-
lage, albeit one with freaks, geeks and the gorgeous. Which is pretty cool.
Deco, Design & Dreams
The early-20th-century school of design was the aesthetic backbone of old South Beach,
and the driving force of its 1980s resurrection. A sustained campaign to preserve the won-
derful deco hotels of Miami Beach provided what tons of tourism brochures could never
create: brand. Sun, sand, surf: a lot of cities can lay claim to them, but only Miami Beach
blended them with this pastel architectural heritage.
The end of WWI in 1918 ushered in an era of increased interest in the romance and glam-
our of travel, which lasted well into the 1930s. There was a giddy fascination with speed
and cars, ocean liners, trains and planes. Not coincidentally, the US postindustrial revolu-
tion, concerned with mass production, kicked into high gear. New materials such as alumin-
um, polished bronze and stainless steel were utilized in new and exciting ways. Americans
began looking to the future, and they wanted to be on the cutting edge.
Meanwhile, in Europe, at a 1925 Paris design fair officially called the Exposition Interna-
tionale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (and eventually abbreviated to Arts
Deco), decorative arts were highlighted, but the US had nothing to contribute. Europeans
were experimenting with repeating patterns in Cubism and were influenced by ancient cul-
tures (King Tut's tomb was discovered in 1921), and Americans had to play catch-up.
