South Beach Art Deco
Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, Washington Avenue: the first 20th-century historic district protected in the United States, told by an architectural historian.
Heritage & Culture · Miami
Heritage in Miami: Art Deco, the collections and the art of living
The pastel façades of Ocean Drive, a private collection opened for you.
The experience
Heritage & Culture
Vizcaya on the bay
James Deering's winter residence, its salons and Italian gardens facing Biscayne Bay, in a quiet slot, subject to the museum's formats.
Museums and collections
The Pérez Art Museum, The Bass, the Rubell Museum, ICA Miami: contemporary art with an independent adviser, private collections included when their owners agree.
The dossier
Miami
Heritage & Culture
The Art Deco district, a memory saved
On 14 May 1979, the Miami Beach Architectural District entered the National Register of Historic Places: the country's first urban 20th-century historic district, some 800 buildings from the 1920s to the 1940s. It owes its survival to the Miami Design Preservation League, founded in 1976 by Barbara Baer Capitman and the designer Leonard Horowitz, who also gave the façades their pastel colours.
Vizcaya and the houses of the bay
On the bay, Vizcaya is the Italian-inspired villa the industrialist James Deering had built, mostly between 1914 and 1922, and lived in every winter from 1916 until his death in 1925. A museum since 1953 and a National Historic Landmark since 1994, it keeps its salons furnished with European antiques and its gardens open to the water.
The museums and the great collections
The Pérez Art Museum Miami, opened in 2013 in Herzog & de Meuron's building on the bay, and The Bass, in Miami Beach, housed in Russell Pancoast's former Art Deco library, carry the institutional scene. In Allapattah, the Rubell Museum has shown the Rubell family collection since December 2019, in six former industrial buildings brought together by Selldorf Architects.
The cultural day, from South Beach to the Design District
A chauffeured car, Art Deco in the morning, lunch, the Pérez Art Museum in the afternoon, then the Design District as the light falls on Buckminster Fuller's dome and Sou Fujimoto's glass façade: we compose the whole day, and adjust it during art week, when the city opens its collections.
Miami
The address book
A few of the names we open — the book itself never closes.
Miami Beach Architectural District
South Beach's Art Deco district, listed on the National Register in 1979, some 800 buildings, visited with an architectural historian.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
James Deering's winter residence on the bay, a museum since 1953, a National Historic Landmark since 1994.
Pérez Art Museum Miami
Herzog & de Meuron's museum of modern and contemporary art, opened in 2013 facing Biscayne Bay.
The Bass
Contemporary art in Russell Pancoast's former Art Deco library in Collins Park, a museum since 1964.
Rubell Museum
The Rubell family collection in Allapattah, in six industrial buildings brought together by Selldorf Architects in 2019.
ICA Miami
The Design District's Institute of Contemporary Art, opened in 2017, free entry and a sculpture garden.
And every other: from the confidential neighbourhood table to the fully-booked three-star. Name yours — we know the house.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Yes: a walk with an architectural historian along Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and Washington Avenue, in the morning, at your own pace. We compose the route to your interests, as far as the MiMo of North Beach.
Yes: a guided visit of the villa and gardens, in a quiet slot, subject to the formats offered by the museum. We extend it through Coconut Grove and Coral Gables.
Some of the city's collections are open to the public, such as the Rubell Museum; others receive visitors on request. We ask for these visits when their owners agree, and tell you when it isn't possible.
At the Pérez Art Museum, The Bass, the Rubell Museum, ICA Miami and in the galleries of the Design District and Wynwood. We arrange the visit with an art historian or an independent adviser.
From November to April, when the heat softens. Art Basel week, in early December, opens more collections, but everything books early; we advise you according to your priorities.
Heritage & Culture · Elsewhere
Under the sun, a city of façades and collections. We open their doors for you.