There are many appealing and awe-inspiring architectural styles in Miami Beach that have evolved over time. I have written post about Mediterranean Revival Buildings like Clay Hotel in the Spanish Village and Casa Casuarina.
These structures boast decorative columns, arched windows and clay tiles. This style is also prevalent at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables and the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami.
The Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel is an incredible historical hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. It was designed by Schultze and Weaver and was built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick as part of the Biltmore hotel chain.
The Miami-Biltmore Hotel & Country Club was designated a National Historic Landmarkin 1996.
The second architectural style that I have written about is Art Deco which was made popular at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 1925. Art Deco in Miami has three phases: the first phase was Classical Art Deco, the second phase was Streamline Modern and the third phase was Tropical Deco.
The Classical Phase buildings have a prominent central-facade-focus flanked by symmetrical structures with stepped angular roof-lines and elaborate motifs. The Miami Beach Post Office and the Delano Hotel are good examples of Art Deco design.
The second compelling style of Art Deco is called Streamline; less ornate and more somber. The third phase is Tropical Deco and incorporates whimsical images of flora and fauna to reinforce the image of Miami Beach as a seaside resort.
The next architectural style became popular after World War II in the 1950s. This style is Miami Modern (MiMo). MiMo architects were influenced by futuristic space age forms and mosaic murals.The Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall between Washington and Alton Road (1960), as well as the iconic Fontainebleau Hilton (1955) at 4401 Collings Avenue were both designed by Morris Lapidus.

Fontainebleau Hilton in Miami Beach
Miami continued to build appealing and awe-inspiring buildings in the 1980s and 1990s. These contemporary structure carried out some of the tropical themes of their predecessors like the Lowes Miami Beach Hotel and the Ritz Carlton. The Lowe’s incorporated the St. Moritz with its property and restored it to its 1939 splendor.

Lowe's Miami Beach Hotel

The Holocaust Memorial “Sculpture of Love and Anguish” depicts victims of concentration camps crawling up a giant yearning hand stretching upward to the sky. The arm is tatooed with a number from Auschwitz. The memorial was designed by Kenneth Treister in 1994 and is located at 1933 Meridian Avenue. This spectacular sculpture is a compelling tribute to the the six million Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust. For more information visit www.holocaustmmb.org.
Dr. EveAnn Lovero writes Travel Guides @ www.vino-con-vista.com
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