South Beach – Course Credit For Tan Lines
Places 20 years ago No Comments

contributed by Amy Johnson [field reporter / stylist / comedienne] 


Road Trip 101: Course Credit for Tan Lines 

Ah, fall. The leaves are changing, the air is crisping. (Crisping” Er, just go with it.) It’s time to go back to school. It’s a time of new beginnings – new classes, new professors, new challenges. Time to think about really buckling down this semester and studying hard. Time to think about a Road Trip. What’s that you say” It’s too early to think about a road trip” Heavens no darlings, it’s never too early to plan a little vay-cay. Now lean in close and listen well, for I have 2 words for you, my precious ones – South Beach. Yup, a city that doesn’t even need a state uttered in the same breath. No last name needed. Like Cher. Or Madonna. Whisper it to yourself right now…. South Beach. Its lovely ocean breezes, gorgeous beaches, fantastic food and beautiful people. Cheap” No. Can be done on a budget” If necessary, of course! Worth it” Oh, totally. And now for the best part: Repeat after me, “But Mom, it’s educational!"

You got it girls and boys! South Beach, the American Riviera, that happening hot spot where celebrities hang and beautiful people wear little or nothing (sunworshippers on this beach aren’t worrying about tan lines from the waist up, if you know what I mean), is an absolute dream of a case study in fantastic 1920s-1940s Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture and design. I mean, really, you should be given course credit for spending a weekend here – as long as you take advantage of the free to nearly-free design experiences that are available to you. And this, my dears, is my gift to you – how to make a Road Trip more than just a lost weekend of fuzzy memories. Why, it’s edutainment!

Get Your Bearings

First of all, it’s not a big place – only about 1 square mile of Art Deco panache. One square mile””” Maybe TV does make everything look bigger! Anyway, you won’t need wheels once you get there. It’s completely walkable or at most a $5 cab ride from one end to the other. Or rent a little scooter and toot-toot your way around town. From east to west there’s the Atlantic Ocean, Ocean Drive, then Collins and Washington Avenues. That’s easy enough, eh” These 3 north-south streets encompass the South Beach experience – boutiques, cafes, hotels and people watching. The goodies start down south at 6th Street. Between 16 th and 17 th Streets is Lincoln Boulevard – a pedestrian haven of shops, restaurants, and galleries. Seeing so much cool design up close – furniture, lighting, art – will make your spine go all tingly! Further north still, up around 23 rd Street are those fab hotels where the rich and famous party– The Shore Club, the Delano. Start working on your SoBe nickname if you’re gonna hang there – think J Lo, P. Diddy, Cha-Cha Royale…you get the idea.

Loll About

Starving students – or those who’d rather save their pennies for something other than a comfy bed and a private bathroom stay at the Clay Hotel (on Washington and 14 th St. It’s actually a hostel AND a hotel – you decide how well you want to get to know that Scandinavian cutie you rode in with on the airport shuttle. Share a dorm room or get your own room” Oh, and about 70 years ago the mobster Al Capone started a casino there. Nifty, eh”

If the parental units are actually sponsoring this educational field trip, score a room at a fab renovated Art Deco hotel. (“Dad, I really need to FULLY appreciate the details of the architecture from the inside out.”)

Here’s a tip: the closer to the sand, the more expensive the room. Generally. But even if you stay 2 blocks over on Washington Avenue, you’re at most a 5-minute walk to the beach. (We could all use a little walkie now and then!) Keep in mind that these historic buildings were designed when hotel rooms were meant for sleeping and not much else. The last 10 years have brought major transformations to South Beach; but let’s be honest, sometimes you want the inside to be as pretty as the outside, and as with your ex, that’s not always the case. So do your homework – in this case you’ll be glad you did. If you’re a sucker for style and quirkiness over large, generic rooms with the same tacky landscape print bolted to the same wall in every room, you’ll adore this town.

Generally the rooms are, shall we say… “cozy”, but certainly not lacking in style or amenities. The Clinton on Washington & 8 th,which re-opened in 2004 after extensive renovation, is a superb example. The style from the lobby to the rooms is supremely hip, the staff is oh-so-smooth (as in at-your-beck-and-call, but never snootily intrusive), and the location is smack dab in the middle of South Beach. The rooms are incredible – but not overly generous in size. Is size really all that matters” Well, at least in this case, no. Think cruise ship stateroom – everything is compact and streamlined, yet fabulous. With built-in furniture and creative use of space, form definitely follows function at the Clinton – but what incredible form!!! Who would’ve thought to lace up the bottom of a mirror like a corset” Ingenious! You’ll take home many a design idea with you after a visit to one of these hipper-than-thou hotels.

Course Credit

Now for the “educational” part of this trip. There are three design styles prominent in South Beach: Art Deco from the 1920s, Streamline Moderne from the 1930s (yes, Moderne with an “e”, pronounced “mo-dairn”) and Mediterranean Revival, also from the 1920s-30s. All are easy to spot if you know a few basics:

Art Deco – What was conceived as ultra-modern in the 1920s is now retro-fabulous. Make it a game as you stroll (you set the stakes, but please don’t share the details!) to pick out the features that make each building Art Deco – the overall symmetry, stepped rooflines, purely ornamental sculptural panels and friezes, glass block, and eyebrows galore (of the architectural variety, silly).

Streamline Moderne – Architects reflected the glory of the machine and travel age in their buildings with machine-inspired forms, swooping curves instead of angled corners and porthole windows. You’ll see plenty of this style in SoBe. Buildings that look like the rounded hulls of old cruise ships, complete with porthole windows” You betcha! And this town is so hip that it may even house a fast food place – think Titanic, not Long John Silver’s.

Mediterranean Revival – Last but not least is the lush, old-world Mediterranean Revival style, also made popular in the early 1920s and found in abundance in South Beach. With rough stucco walls, arched windows, and curved roof tiles it’s pretty much the opposite of the Art Deco sleek, futuristic style, but gorgeous all the same. Want to see the most famous example in SoBe and have a “brush-with-greatness” moment all at once” Of course you do! Stop at the northwest corner of Ocean Drive and 12 th Street to ooh-and-ahhh over Casa Casuarina, the late fashion designer Gianni Versace’s villa. Once a hotel, this style icon made it into his private residence. He loved the neighborhood so much that he went about positioning South Beach as the next Milan. His high-profile adoration of the neighborhood really helped get the celebrity ball rolling and put SoBe on the map as a hipster hotspot back in the 1990s.

The Free Version

So you spent all your money just getting here and don’t have any cash left to soak up the culture” No excuse! Grab your camera, a sketchbook and the cutest friend you can find and stroll up and down Ocean, Collins and Washington from 6 th to 23 rd Streets to take in all of the gorgeous architecture that has been so well preserved thanks to the efforts of Barbara Baer Capitman. In 1976, she started the Miami Design Preservation League – the oldest Art Deco Society in the world (check out their website for info about the period before you go wandering). Because of her efforts, 800 stunning buildings designed by such architects as Henry Hohauser and L. Murray Dixon have been protected from demolition and, more importantly, unseemly renovations. Leonard Horowitz, co-founder of the MDPL, established that striking Art Deco color palette for those structures to show off their lines and reflect the tropical beach spirit of Miami. Pale pistachio, sunny yellow, ocean blues and flamingo pink give the buildings that special South Beach something. Let’s hear it for Barbara & Leonard!

While you’re strolling, take the time to lobby hop. Heck, it’s free to scope out the grooviness of so many of these places. Wander into the lobby of the Edison or the Astor, among others, and sneak a peek at the metal work on the stairwell banisters and elevator doors, the inlaid flooring and the nifty light fixtures. Check out their brochures – most extol the virtues of the building’s history; and a friendly reservations clerk may be able to tell you some of the special features of their hotel.

Trivia Time

If you saw the Robin Williams film The Birdcage, then you’ve seen a historic South Beach building. The building that served as the club’s exterior is right there on Ocean Drive. Unfortunately it’s in renovation mode, so you can’t go in, but you’ll recognize it. It’s still minty green!

The Knowledge-is-Worth-More-than-a-T-shirt Version:

To those of you who’ve found a spare twenty wadded up in your pocket, congratulations! Don’t waste it on a lousy South Beach souvenir. Instead, get your buns out of bed Saturday morning and hike over to the Art Deco Welcome Center at 10 th and Ocean on the beach by 10:30am. For a measly $15 (with your student ID, $20 for adults) you get an information-packed 90-minute guided walking tour of the area with details about specific buildings, architects, trivia and local lore. Check the website for specific times. www.mdpl.org You may think it sounds touristy, but it’s well worth the money and the time. And a heck of a lot better than reading that textbook you were assigned! You’ll hear about the development of the area, see the must-see sites (including the WPA-constructed Post Office) and even get a quick trip inside the Wolfsonian Museum for a glimpse at some great artworks. The volunteer guides are knowledgeable and seeing these places in person makes you forget you’re even learning. And that’s the way I like it.

Before you jump in your convertible, check www.mdpl.org for other freebie activities like design talks, classic film screenings and exhibits so you can squeeze as much knowledge as possible out of your holiday. These nice folks are just dying to teach you all they can about this fab little place. Take advantage of it, darlings. Not everyone is so generous.

So there you have it. An actual good reason to take a Road Trip to a groovy style-spot that has it all – beaches, style, babes and knowledge. Maybe it’s time to talk to that professor about extra credit…

Got the Munchies

On Ocean Drive:

Front Porch Café – just north of 14 th St. on Ocean – great breakfasts!

Clevelander – around 10 th on Ocean – great outdoor seating (i.e. people watching) and place to watch sports – you’ve probably seen this patio featured on ESPN during playoff time

News Café- just south of 8 th on Ocean – been there forever. Gianni Versace used to stroll down here for his morning paper and coffee

On Lincoln:

Fabulous place to stroll up and down and read menus till you find what you like. All the restaurants have outdoor seating. Okay, the food’s not cheap, but it’s pretty fantastic. By the way, at many places gratuities are already added to your bill (in the European style) even if you’re a party of 1. So look twice before you tip again and save yourself some cash.

Nexxt Café – tons of food. Try the Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin! Better yet, share it with your friend. The portions are huge.

Van Dyke Café – has good food AND a great upstairs jazz bar with live music

Shop: My favorite 4-letter word!

Lincoln Road – By far the highest concentration of style in one area. Among the fashionable chain stores you’ll find groovy local boutiques dedicated to supreme style. Cruise them to see great furniture, lighting and accessories – both new and retro. You’ll be drunk on style before you know it. Don’t skip Lincoln Furniture & Design or Pink Palm.
There are also plenty of shops and boutiques along the Big 3 streets. Most of it ain’t cheap, but neither is hipness, baby.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t miss a stop at the ArtCenter on Lincoln Road at Meridian St. It’s a warren of artist studios that’s open to the public. Check out their pieces through their workspace windows; and if they’re in, they might invite you to watch them create something amazing. A quick stroll through here will get your creative juices flowing.

Extra Credit

While you’re down Miami way, if you can swing it, cruise over to the city’s Design District and check out the hip art galleries and design showrooms. Start here to plan your attack: www.designmiami.com


Photo captions:

Inlaid Travertine: What do you get when you mix crushed limestone with colored concrete”  Art Deco you can walk on!

Cavalier: Frieze, sucker!  Those Art Deco architects love adding design details purely for the safe of design – and always purely symmetrical.  Hmmm… a little obsessive / compulsive maybe”

Art Deco Detail: Look at those scrumptious sherbet colors, glass block and angular symmetrical detailing – all hallmarks of Art Deco design.

Beach Patrol Headquarters: Ahoy! This is Streamline Moderne all the way, baby – the glory of the Transportation Age shown off in porthole windows, curving lines, and ship’s detailing.

Versace Villa: Va-Va-Versace!  Here is a slice of the former hotel that Gianni turned into his private residence on Ocean Drive.  His Mediterranean Revivial-style digs show off the wrought iron gates, arched windows, tile roofs and courtyards typical of the style.

Carlyle: Minty fresh describes The Carlyle building that was used for the exterior of the 1996 film The Birdcage.  It’s currently under renovation (the Port-a-Potty has been tastefully cropped out of the photo just for you).

Post Office: This gem was built in the 1930s and has a stunning mural in the lobby.  At least they give you something pretty to look at while you’re standing in line!

Note: All photos taken and supplied by Amy Johnson.


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