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Space Age Design
Midcentury Futuristic Atomic Googie Jet Age
A few years ago I had a collection of postcards, of which 4 were Miami Beach art deco hotels. While staying in Naples, Florida, we decided to cross Alligator Alley to Miami Beach to spend a night and see what art deco hotels remained. I expected a dozen or so. There were in fact over 200, almost all fully restored. Miami Beach has the most art deco buildings found anywhere. Its art deco is unlike that found anywhere else. So I started a collection of Miami Beach art deco hotel postcards.
I quickly found out that not only is Miami Beach an art deco mecca, it was also a midcentury hotel extravaganza, many with futuristic design. Miami Beach midcentury differs from most other areas in two respects. One, the hotel or motel had a beach attached to it or a block away. The second is the attention grabbing roadside sign was not used. The vacationers did not need to be pulled off the road. They had reserved ahead or were already there. The attraction was the architecture itself. While the art deco hotels are concentrated in a two mile area around South Beach, the midcentury architecture was more to the north and spread out. Hotels and motels were the primary structures, but also churches, banks, restaurants and other types of buildings were built in the midcentury futuristic style. The midcentury style was influenced by the earlier art deco buildings, the beachy feel of the area, and futurism in general.
The Ocean Surf Hotel at 7436 Ocean Terrace was a fine example of the art deco on Miami Beach.
Miami Beach art deco today on Ocean Drive facing the ocean.
Miami Beach got a late start. Development started in earnest in the 1910s by Carl Fisher, who also helped develop the cross country Lincoln Highway and The Indianapolis Speedway. He finished a 2 1/2 mile wooden bridge from the mainland in return for acreage. Miami Beach was a vacation area from the start. The hundreds of art deco hotels were built late in the deco era, mostly in the mid to late 1930s and early 1940s. Development was influenced by Northerners buying homes and vacationing. There was a large Jewish community. The Cuban Boatlift of 1980 resulted in many Cuban residents. Later, redevelopment in the 1980s and 1990s was heavily influenced by a large LGBT community. Miami Beach celebrates its art deco architecture. However, unlike the art deco hotels, the majority of the midcentury hotels were not restored and most are now gone.
So why did most of the art deco hotels survive while the later midcentury ones were lost? It has a lot to do with the value of the underlying real estate and local activism. In the mid 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the art deco area on South Beach was used primarily as a retirement community and deteriorated. In 1980 the Cuban boatlift brought in lower income Cubans. This led to lower property values and an undesirable neighborhood for developers. However local residents pulled together and got a mile of South Beach placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Miami Beach Architectural District was designated in 1979. This led to significant revitalization in the 1980s and 1990s. The midcentury buildings farther north did not have any such activism. However, with many directly on the beach, their real estate became too valuable to developers who bought them up and put new larger structures in their place. As a result, today Miami Beach is a mecca for art deco architecture, but an equally brilliant midcentury futuristic design legacy is mostly gone and forgotten. Well almost forgotten. Here it is!
A personal favorite, the Regent Palace at 9309 Collins Ave. Still open.
Atlantique Motel, Collins Ave and 163rd St. 70 rooms, coffee shop and cocktail lounge. Closed.
The Magnificent Thuderbird Motel "As modern as tomorrow". Now a best western. 18401 Collins Ave.
The Fountainebleau, the grandest and best known hotel of the era. 4441 Collins Ave. Architect Morris Lapidus. Still open.
Lobby of the Fountainebleau
The Casablanca, 6345 Collins, 376 rooms, 2 night clubs. This view from 1963, still open
Hotel Continental, Collins and 40th St., closed
The Shelborne at 1801 Collins, cabana club, refrigerators in each room. Still open.
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Sunny Isles Lutheran Church at Collins Ave and 178th St. J. Bender Miller Pastor. Closed.
Hotel row on Collins near Lincoln Road. Includes Di Lido Hotel which is still open.
Singapore Motel, northern Miami Beach. Closed.
The Seville at 2901 Collins, coffee shop, lounge, Magnificent Matador Supper Club, 500 feet of private beach. Still open
The Bombay, on the ocean at 69th St. Private beach & cabana club. Image from 1955. Closed.
The Golden Gate Hotel & Cabana Club on Collins. Closed.
The public library at 2100 Collins Ave. Torn down, new library a block away.
Reviva Motel at 19090 Collins Ave. Private beach, close to the dog track. Torn down for condos.
The Dunes on the ocean at 170th St. Torn down for condos.
The Coral Seas Motel at 16201 Collins. Private beach. One of the wildest designs of the era. Town down for condos
The Driftwood Motel on the ocean at 171st St. Private beach, coffee shop, lounge, kitchenettes. Torn down for condos.
Beachcomber Resort Motel, full block at Collins & 189th. On the ocean. Demolished for condos.
The Americana Hotel in Bal Barbour. Image from 1965. New at the time. Another Morris Lapidus hotel. Closed
Overhead view illustration of the Beachcomber. One of the most prototypical Miami Beach motels of the era.
Pumperniks Restaurant & Sandwich Shop at 67 St. and Collins. Home of the Pumpernickle Bagel. Now a Venezia Pizza & Lounge.
Financial Federal S&LA at 755 Washington Ave. Now a Habibi Diner with a very different but distinctive modern look.
The Castaways. Ten acres of oceanfront at Collins and 163rd st. 2 coffee shops, private beach, Shinto Temple Dining, Wreck Bar. Torn down...wait for it...for condos.
Malaluka Apartment Hotel at 9201 Collins. On the ocean. Torn down for condos.
Biltmore Terrace at Collins and 87th St. On the ocean. Cabana club. Architect Morris Lapidus who did Fountainebleau. Demolished in 2015, after significant local protest.
The Ocean Haven Hotel at 155 Ocean Dr. Mix of art deco and midcentury. On the ocean. Closed.
The San Marino at Collins and 43rd St. Bagatelle restaurant. Demolished for another hotel.
The Gould Motel at 17141 Collins on the ocean. Art deco and midcentury mix in styles. Demolished for condos.
Interior of the Starlite restaurant at the Doral Beach Hotel at Collins and 45th St. on the ocean. Had a starlite roof. Supper club with orchestras. Opened 1963, now closed.
Sea Breeze Motel at 16151 Collins. On the water. Demolished for condos.
the Dream Bar at the Johnina Hotel at Collins and 71st. On the ocean. Now Crystal Beach Suites Hotel.
Even churches got in on the act. This is the All Souls Episcopal Church at 4205 Pine Tree Drive. Still open.
The Church-By-The-Sea in the Bal Harbour section of Miami Beach. Building recently demolished, church still active.
The Sea Banks Resort Motel at 2000 Ocean Blvd. in Hallandale, FL. A little north of Miami Beach. Like many former Miami Beach ocean front motels, this is now a condo tower.