Written by Chris Madrid French
The restored Eden Roc Hotel is hosting MiMo activities.
Miami is a worldwide destination and the Art Deco of nearby Miami Beach is one of the “top rated” attractions of the area, according to travelers at TripAdvisor. Now the options for tourists are expanding, with an increased emphasis on celebrating and saving “MiMo,” or Miami Modern buildings from the mid-twentieth century.
Not familiar with MiMo? Well, this is your chance to get up close to the unique architectural stylings of Miami and Miami Beach. The Dade Heritage Trust is highlighting an unrivaled collection of mid-twentieth century buildings with a two-day series of events, including a few special gatherings that are once-in-a-lifetime cool and intended to familiarize you with the “innovative tropical exoticism, glamour and fun” of Miami architecture.
“Meet MiMo,” scheduled for March 11th and 12th at the Morris Lapidus-designed 1956 Eden Roc Hotel, is expected to draw an international audience interested in expanding the boundaries of preservation practice and the interpretation of historic Modernism. DOCOMOMO-US President and noted architect Theo Prudon will be opening up the conference. His book, Preservation of Modern Architecture, is without doubt the best current text for dissecting the many variations of “modern” and applying that knowledge to the protection and restoration (intellectually and structurally) of the buildings and landscapes of the twentieth century. He will be covering the global state of preservation, followed up by me discussing the national context in America, and Morris Hylton III, assistant professor and the acting director of the Historic Preservation program at the University of Florida, who will cover the regional perspective.
Bacardi is sponsoring a cocktail party at its former US corporate headquarters, designed by Enrique Gutierrez.
That’s just the start, as our opening presentations will be followed by a “Triumphs and Challenges” panel discussion featuring Beth Dunlop as moderator and a host of Miami-Dade architectural experts, including William Cary, Teri D’Amico, Melissa Memory, Carie Penabad, Randall Robinson, Allan Shulman, and Don Worth. The collected audience will then honor the architects among us at The “Living Legends Luncheon,” with rare appearances by Alfred Browning Parker (a prolific and accomplished architect recommended by Frank Lloyd Wright as an American Institute of Architects Fellow in 1959), Hilaro Candela (designer of the Miami Marine Stadium, a National Trust 11 Most Endangered site), Enrique Gutierrez (a Cuban architect and protégé of Mies van der Rohe), and Jan Hochstim (architect and author of Florida Modern). The day-long celebration will be capped off with a “cocktail party under the stars,” hosted by the Dade Heritage Trust and sponsored by Bacardi at their 1959 corporate headquarters, an exuberant modern tower designed by Gutierrez with a 1973 cubist annex by architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz.
After the day of discussions, everyone will get a chance to stretch their legs, or get out on the water, with seven exclusive tours on Saturday, including a boat tour of the Miami Marine Stadium and a walking tour at the University of Miami featuring buildings by Robert Law Weed and Marion Manley, Miami’s first woman architect. Other tours will cover private homes designed by Alfred Browning Parker, the Morris Lapidus Historic District, and MiMo buildings along South Beach, Lincoln Road, and Biscayne Boulevard.
Alfred Browning Parker-designed home will be open for tours.
There seems to be on ongoing, albeit good-natured, debate over the classification of historic 20th century buildings here: is it Art Deco or is it MiMo? But why argue? The buildings featured during MiMo are the best of both. The architects of Miami emphasized a sensory experience, with texture, color, light, and shape taking the place of more decorative components from the previous era of design. Out: columns and acanthus leaves. In: curvaceous concrete.
Today, despite some losses to the historic fabric, the character of Miami Beach continues to evolve. The recently completed “car park,” a garage/residential/retail combination envisioned by developer Robert Wennett and designed by Herzog & de Meuron, continues the cinematic exuberance that has marked Miami Beach for more than eighty years. Architect Jacques Herzog described this remarkable new building as “all muscle without cloth,” an apt description for an open-air concrete structure that is stripped clean of even modernism’s bare garments.
Don’t miss this chance to visit with the experts, see great American architecture, and keep ahead of the preservation curve. There are tickets still available and a-la-carte pricing if you can’t get to all of the events. See you there!
Chris Madrid French is the director of the Modernism + Recent Past Program (TrustModern) at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
