Miami Beach, temple of 1930’s Tropical Art Deco

In the 1930’s, Miami Beach has developed the world’s biggest Art Deco heritage, called “tropical Art Deco”…

In the 1930’s, booming seaside resort Miami Beach adopts the Art Deco movement, which is spreading all over the world after Paris 1925’s Exhibition of Arts Décoratifs.

With more than 800 art deco buildings all along the Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, Miami becomes the first Art Deco city in the world. This style is called “Tropical Art deco”, a Floridian version of the movement, using pastel colors, white tones, vertical lines, abstract patterns and flat roofs.

There are several declinations of the style: Mediterranean Revival, Miami Modern, Streamline Modern (inspired by ferries shapes) and Deco Dazzle (in the 1980’s).

In the 1960’s, Miami Beach and its buildings are getting old-fashioned, and after the 1974’s crisis, the city is planning to destroy them. But the Miami Preservation League is founded in 1976 to protect and renovate the architectural heritage. Finally, Miami experience a new boom in the 1980’s, thanks to TV series such as « Miami Vice »…

Address: Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, South Beach, Miami 
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