Art Deco Architecture in Miami Beach

City elements propelling city brand meaning-making processes

“…For example, Kulturbrauerei, a building complex in Prenzlauer Berg (Berlin) that once housed a brewery, symbolizes the district’s past (Kalandides, 2011: 32). Further, “historical” architecture thought or believed to embody a sense of the city, during a particular time, can enable people to vicariously experience the city as it was (Curtis, 2009: 51). Such “historical” architecture represents another potential form of tangible urban reminder emitting potent symbolic messages about the city’s past.…”

“…For instance, Miami Beach (Florida) has evolved considerably since the city’s “Art Deco phase” (Molotch et al, 2000: 818). However, urban reminders including myths and architecture, connected with this “phase,” continue to emit symbolic messages about the city (Curtis, 2009). Further, multiple stakeholder groups, including those groups directly seeking to brand the city, attempt to manipulate how people understand the past for various purposes (Kalandides, 2011; Lees, 1994; Lewicka, 2008; see also e.g.…”

Urban preservation and the queerying spaces of (un)remembering: Memorial landscapes of the Miami Beach art deco historic district

“…1 They were mostly constructed over the 1920s until the early 1940s, with Henry Hohauser as principal architect, and are recognised as the world's highest concentration of art deco buildings. Considering their memorable, cohesive and essentially unaltered properties, this was the first 20thcentury neighbourhood that the US National Register of Historic Places designated as Federal Historic District in 1979 (Curtis, 1982;Hillier, 1968), with Art Deco District as shorthand (Figure 1). The efforts of the non-profit organisation Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL), established in 1976, paved the way for this classification and its ongoing movement to preserve, protect and promote the architectural integrity of the Art Deco District (Miami Design Preservation League, 2016).…”

“…Capitman, 1988;Chase, 2005;Curtis, 1982;Gaines, 2009;Klepser, 2014;Stofik, 2005). Curtis (1982) presented an informative account on the historical context of SoBeÕs art deco.…”

“…There was a significant dip in art deco property development after the Second World War, ushering in a war-infested disbelief in Ôstreamlined architectureÕ (i.e. the machine-inspired art deco style of that time) (Curtis, 1982 (Drolet et al, 2010;Stofik, 2005 (C ‡po, 2010). The area in the face of international migration became, in then popular imageries, associated with crime and insecurity.…”