Monday, January 18, 2010

ART DECO DISTRICT

OCEAN DRIVE, MIAMI - FEBRUARY 2009


"OCEAN DRIVE - The southern end of Miami Beach is home to the Art Deco National Historic District. The buildings, started to be built in the 1920's, are examples of pre-war modernism. In the beginning, South Beach became associated with liquor, gambling and Al Capone. By the early 1980's, much of the Art Deco district had become a slum; however, it experienced a revival in the late 80's, as a result of the work of the non-profit Miami Design Preservation League and its founder Barbara Capitman. The highlight of the District is the section of Ocean Drive between 5th and 15th street that we'll see here"


"CASABLANCA"


"LANSCAPE PICTURES - Clockwise, from top left: Ocean Drive, design chairs, Boulevard Hotel, leasing, whites, MM, The Netherland and a street corner; the centre is taken by the Heathcote Apartments..."


"PORTRAIT PICTURES - Featuring The Victor, Cavalier, Congress, Winter Heaven, The Tides, Medi, Ocean Plaza Hotels and a light grey building..."


"AVALON - One emblematic building of the Art Deco District with a 1950’s Oldsmobile parked in front to induce the excitement of SOBE. In the evening, the lobby of the hotel is transformed into the restaurant «A Fish Called Avalon», a culinary institution of the last twenty years"


"WALDORF TOWER - Designed by architect Albert Anis in 1937, it is one of the most photographed buildings in Ocean Drive"


"OCEAN DRIVE LANDMARKS - Majestic, Beacon(1937), Colony (1939) and Shore on the Park (1930 by E. A. Ehrmann, home of Gloria Estafan's restaurant, Larios on the Beach) Hotels"


"FAT TUESDAY - It used to be a nice jazz club in New York (3rd Avenue); now, since 1984, you get «fun food items to complement the featured frozen specialty drinks»..."


"DECOWALK - The ONLY hostel on Ocean Drive"


"ART DECO SHOW - From top left to bottom right: Casa Grande, Pelican, Barbizon, Starlite, Crescent, Cardozo, Penguin, McAlpin and The Carlyle Hotels"


"LESLIE - Vacant for a while, the Leslie, designed by architect Albert Anis and built in 1937, was finally sold in 2009"


"CASA CASUARINA - It was built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman as a tribute to what was then the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere, the Alcazar de Colon built by Christopher Columbus' son Diego in Santo Domingo in 1510. In the early 1990s, Versace bought the mansion and expanded the original 16th-century Mediterranean design with a south wing, a pool and a garden. After having been a private club during the last years after the murder of Versace, it seems that the mansion is going to reopen as a hotel: «The Villa by Barton G.». We'll see..."


"THE BETSY ROSS - Built by L. Murray Dixon in 1940 and opened in 1942, the Betsy Hotel is another historic landmark hotel"


"ESPAÑOLA WAY - This historic village, modeled after artistic and romantic Mediterranean villages in Spain, has been a longtime favorite of the bohemian crowd. Originally intended for Miami Beach's high society, it had problems in the 1920s when Al Capone and others used the Clay Hotel for gambling. In the 1930s, however, the scene came close to its original vision, and Española became known for its rumba beat"

49 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! To favour my blog friends without a broadband connection I’ve reduced the number of posts per page to only two and I’ll try to reduce the number of photos per post... This means a lot more of collages and less stand alone pictures; and it also means that the quality of the pictures in the collages will be much downgraded in relation to the original ones... But, as this blog is meant much more to show places than to show the pictures themselves, it might still work... And to make Ingrid happy I opened comments to anyone... But I’ll have to return to registered users only as soon as spammers will discover this and start attacking... ;)
Anyhow, enjoy, have fun and tell me what you think about!!

PS: You may use the SmileBox show to see the pictures of the Art Deco District in better shape!!

hpy said...

Les formes et les couleurs des détails sont toujours aussi belles. Et la vieille voiture est un plus.

Olivier said...

Waouhh c'est magnifique, j'adore cette architecture art deco, c'est un vrai paradis pour un fan comme moi

RNSANE said...

This is the best trip I've had down Ocean in my entire life. I can remember the first time I was there, at 19, when I was pretty and thin - wearing a bikini in those days. Alas, over the years, I've changed!! After I finished nursing school in New Orleans and moved back to GA for a year while my dad was in VietNam, I dated an Army Lt. whose father was an FBI upper level agent working in Miami with the the hijacking unit. We'd go down and spend a week at their posh house and have a great time. When he got out of the Army, I spent almost a whole summer in Miami but, since then, I've been there mainly to and from cruises!

Thérèse said...

You just showed everything I haven't seen in Miami. I had, at the time, prefered to go and see the CHihuly's exhibit at the Fairchild Botanical Garden...
What a great "deco" architecture!
I like the new approach of the blog.

irinapictures said...

Wow, I did not realise that our blog is much more than a photoblog! So many interesting photos and huge amount of information. Now I am in love with Casa Casuarina. And waiting for more of your reportages.

Galaxy6139 said...

Hello ^-^ those buildings look so luxury and artistic.

Thanks for sharing,

alicesg said...

Looked like you have a great time at Miami. There are so many hotels there, must be a very popular beach.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wow! This is cool.....love the blues and must say - very well captured, as always!

SusuPetal said...

Those buildings are just delicious, and so seems the weather also!

Ron said...

This is a fabulous post. I must get to Miami one day.

eye in the sky said...

have always loved art decos coz they look fresh and clean. there's so much history around too.

A Lady's Life said...

I have always loved Miami.
Its a great place to holiday and feels like coming home to the same people and routines you left behind.
Where I go, hardly anything changes. I mean buildings change but the people stay the same. They live, grow old, and stay stable on their own beach.
Its wonderful to see.

Dsole said...

Hi Gil!! I think I just have to say... I'm loving it!! ;)
nice pics, nice collection! thanks for sharing!!

Cloudia said...

Lovely interlude!

Aloha, Friend


Comfort Spiral

Lakshmi said...

what a destination to begin with..enjoyed viewing them Gil

Kcalpesh said...

This is such a beautiful place! I love the style of constructions they have done! Very artistic.

- Pixellicious Photos

diane b said...

Well done to the preservation society. IT is great to see these buildings cleaned up and being used. It makes for a very interesting street. However I have never been a fan of Art Deco style.

Urmi said...

Very nice blog with fantastic photos. All the pictures are so beautiful that I cannot express you in words. Your blog is one of the best blog and my favourite.

Nikon said...

Beautiful shots, Gil - the colors are really saturated.
I don't see much of a degradation in photo quality - maybe just a bit in the last collage.
Good luck with the spammers! (I'm getting hit....)
Thanks for your visits!!

Oman said...

very imposing buildings on this place. i bet you had a great time there. the collage idea was awesome.

Venksh said...

The Buildings r really amazing... seems like u had really awesome time out there...
I took ur advise which u said to me last year that never miss family trip so this weekend i n my family r goin to Jaipur n also to Udaipur...
I showed my family couple of ur Jaipur picx which u posted they were amazed abt it n cant wait to c them in real...

Kven.

Gattina said...

In your pictures I see the spanish style of architecture !
On my travel blog the photos only have 450 pixel but you can make them bigger of course and I only have one post per page. That allows everybody to easily open my blog and see everything and I don't need to make collages. Eventually I do a slideshow. Your photos are very big and for some people not easy to see. I checked my blog on different computers and it always looks different !

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Gil.
Awsome those buildings , I like the white colour and the "Waldorf" isn.t that like a "Walmart": thats a hugh 'kinda'supermarket place with also clothes and shoes (oustside food/drinks) , fantastic to see it all, its fine with me either you post 2 or more post's but I understand what you mean:)


Greetings from JoAnn /Holland

Anonymous said...

I am so glad there is/was a revival of the art deco scene in Miami. When I was in Wisconsin several years ago there was rumors that Al Capone had a hidden retreat near where I was staying. :)

Unknown said...

Great tour of the Art Deco buildings! They look well-maintained, thanks to the revival.Would love to step inside too.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Gil
I've only landed in the Miami airport on my way to the Keys so I enjoyed seeing what I missed. The is an old world quality to it. I imagine Havana looking like this too.
I think the "Fat Tuesday" building was my favorite. It had a Byzantine look to it.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Awesome photos. I like the atmosphere projected in the photos.

Paz

Anil P said...

Fascinating. I always liked the look of Art Deco, more after having seen some upclose in Bombay.

I'm glad the district was restored to its former glory.

They lend so much character to the place.

I hope they thrive and remind folks of how design should be.

Cergie said...

Ce sont des lignes propres et nettes qui transportent aussi bien dans le temps que dans l'espace : me voici revenu en Côte d'Ivoire au centre de sa capitale Abidjan dans les années 60. Heureusement il y a ces couleurs fraîches car ces immeubles feraient vite décrépis. Je constate que la plupart portent leur nom sur leur figure (façade) donc ne sont pas des lieux privés.
Et bien longue vie à ce "blog 2" et à son auteur "Trotter", Gil !

rochambeau said...

Your blog looks great and so does Miami! The architecture is great. It looks so clean in your photos. Is it also in real life?

Happy Weekend ahead!
xox

Constance

Lori said...

Your new blog looks great! I've never been to this part of Florida, so I'm enjoying seeing the architecture through your eyes. I like the photos in the large size too. The whole thing looks great. Congrats!

Indrani said...

Great look for the new blog and a lovely place in pictures.

Jurgen Huibers said...

What a nice street with colourful buildings and great architecture. A pleasure to have a walk and enjoy the place.

Regina said...

Hello GMG. Wow nice new template. Love the header pic!
Awesome captures. Beautiful and cozy place. Love the weather here. I've been to Florida but not in Miami Dist.

Thank you for sharing.
Enjoy the weekend.

Mariposa said...

wow Miami is gorgeous. The architectures are so intriguing and i'm sure it holds a lot of history since the buildings have been there for a long time :)
thanks for sharing!

Marja said...

Gorgeous pictures I love Art Deco Here in Nrw Zealand we have one city on the Borth Island build in Art Deco
It's called Napier

Lifecruiser Travel Blog said...

Wow! So many wonderful buildings, what an architecture. I wish all buildings could look like that everywhere....

First time I hear about the ESPAÑOLA WAY actually.

Oh, and gorgeous blog top photo!!!

Pietro Brosio said...

Hello Gil! I really enjoy all these splendid images! The building and the atmosphere are so nice! Thanks for sharing.
I think it's a very good idea to reduce the size of the blog: I still have a slow connection and the blogs with many large photos are very difficult to display for me! Sometimes I go to an internet point and the navigation is much much quicker there! :-)
Have a beautiful weekend!

indicaspecies said...

Hi Gil,
Good to be visiting you again and I must say, these are a delightful set of photographs. I like the concept of collages too.

Thank you for your inquiries about me. I am back in Kuwait for the moment, and free again ;)

Congratulations on your new blog! I wish Blogtrotter2 the same success as the previous blog(s) did have. Cheers.

MedaM said...

Hello Gil, your new blog looks spectacular. Your photos are of the bigger size and I like it. The mosaic photos are also great and that is a good idea. So many beautiful, artistic and luxury buildings in this beautiful place. Really very attractive, informative and interesting post.

lv2scpbk said...

I did notice you were doing your blog post a little different. Whatever seems to work for you is the best way.

Looks like blue sky's and no bad weather in sight, which is a good thing.

Emery Roth said...

What a treat to see these all together and looking like new. While I miss the large format photos, the collages may give the overall effect even better. Whetehr this would work for your trips into more Baroque environments, I'm not sure. Thank. I especially enjoyed this one.

Anonymous said...

fantastic photographs - love the colours and design!

Light and Voices said...

Art Deco is just kewelopolis! Your header is so serene. Lovely blog #2.
Joyce, IL, USA

PeterParis said...

Wonderful to see such a concentration of art deco buildings ... and in good shape, which is not always the case... elsewhere!

S-V-H said...

Thank you for your tour guide trough Miami, Manuel! A lot of memories came back with the pictures, for me.

Thanks for sharing!
Susanne

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody,
Thanks again for your comments here! It’s an amazing feeling to see that a blog is only visited by the usual blogfriends of Blogtrotter and no one else... The previous Blogtrotter (already ended) seems to still receive fifteen times more visitors a day than the present version, but gets no comments and this one has you around. Great!!

Hélène,
Le quartier Art Déco est vraiment charmant!!

Olivier,
Alors, au lieu de partir toujours à New York il faut faire un détour… ;)

Carmen,
Up Ocean dear; we start at 5th and go up... ;) Don’t mention weight... Want to see a handsome guy twenty pounds less? Better go to Blogtrotter 70s and 80s. But there is still a chance in the early Blogtrotter 90s... ;))
A posh house in Miami? No wonder... probably one in the Venetian Islands... I don’t think it would have been Vizcaya... ;))
Anyhow, getting in and out of the cruises is nice!!

Thérèse,
I’ve seen Chihuly’s works in Boca Raton and the famous chandelier at Victoria and Albert Museum in London, but never in Miami... The Art Deco district is a must, so you’d better start packing!!

Irina,
Great to see you commenting here!! I’m a fan of Moscow Daily and am glad you took the job started by Irina... Amazing confusion of names... ;)
I’m not posting so much info as I would like, but unfortunately time is at a premium and it’s not easy to find it to make some additional research... ;)

Galaxy,
Artistic they are; as for luxury, some are some aren’t... ;))

Alice SG,
Miami and in particular South Beach are world famous; mostly due to the old jetsetters that use to park there... ;) And I certainly had a great time, but that was in 2009... ;)

Rakesh,
Great that you liked! The Blues are always the best... ;)

Susu,
The Art Deco district has some awesome buildings and the weather in winter is outstanding: this year they were freezing at +17º Celsius in early January... ;))

Ron,
You’re much closer than I am!! ;)

Eye,
Fresh and clean is a nice description for the Art Deco buildings!!

Lady,
It’s amazing that kind of experience; I wouldn’t think that people would be staying the same. I’m ageing... ;-(

Dsole,
Welcome here!! Great to see you back! I don’t have much time to post and surf, but will try to show you some nice places!!

Cloudia,
Interlude? There will be many in this blog... ;)

Lakshmi,
That was a nice start for the Northern Hemisphere winter!! ;)

Kcalpesh,
They had built some eighty years ago; amazing is how some people managed to avoid them bring all this down... Great job, Ms. Capitman!!

Diane,
Taste, we don’t discuss; but I see no reason to dislike Art Deco... It’s one of my favourites... but I’ve many!! ;)

Babli,
Thanks! You’re always too kind! Loved to read you back here and I’m happy you liked the blog and post!!

Paul,
Everything is truly natural; no Photoshop addition on it... ;))
The collage pictures are much worse than the regular ones; but it seems they’re still bearable... and thus we may see something more in less space...
Spammers, in particular in Chinese, are attacking hard... ;)

Norman,
Miami has something for everybody... ;)
The collage is nice because it allows you to show more in less space and makes it easier to download; but the quality of the pictures goes definitely down... at least in my case... ;)

Kven,
The Art Deco district is a Miami must and provides you with great lifestyle... ;)
You’re going to love the trip to Jaipur, I’m sure... And I would love to go to Udaipur one of these days...

Gattina,
Spanish style? Not that much in the Art Deco district...
I’m working with 800px*600px pictures. That’s why I use collages... Looks much nicer than my first pictures with Blogtrotter 70s & 80s... That’s true that the pictures look different in different computers: in a 24” LCD monitor they always look small... ;)

JoAnn,
Waldorf like Wal-Mart? Doesn’t seem quite accurate... ;))
Two posts per page and fewer pictures per post make it easy to slower connections...

Trotter said...

Part Two:

Lynn,
Can’t believe Mr. Scarface (don’t call me Scarface; I’m Capone; C-A-P-O-N-E, Capone! Remember the movie?) was still around Wisconsin when you were there... ;))

Keats,
That was a great achievement; I mean avoid the tearing down of all those beauties to build the ordinary skyscrapers... ;)

Pat,
Havana doesn’t look like this, but the Malécon has some superb buildings also; a bit ruined some of them however...

Paz,
The atmosphere is great; that was early morning... Later it improves!! ;)

Anil,
Thanks for your visit and first time comment at Blogtrotters... There are some posts on India at the previous blog that may be of interest to you...
I would love to see the Art Deco in Mumbai!!

Lucie,
Je ne faisais pas la moindre idée qu’Abidjan (qui n’est plus la capitale de Côte d’Ivoire) pourrait avoir un quartier art déco… À Ocean Drive, South Beach, la plupart des immeubles sont devenus hôtels…
Merci de tes vœux et j’espère que tu te continues à t’amuser chez Blogtrotter Two!

Constance,
It was pretty clean this time, but I’ve seen it in a worst shape some other times. They are surely improving...
xoxo

Lori,
I must confess that I’m always a bit surprised reading that an American has not been to some important cities in the States, but that is surely the syndrome of living in a small country... ;)
I’m glad that you like the «jumbo» size pictures...

Indrani,
Great is having you commenting here!!

Juka,
It’s indeed a great joy strolling around Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District of South Beach, Miami!! Having some dollars on your pocket also helps... ;))

Regina,
Great to see you here, my dear busy blogger! The header is one of my pictures of Moorea, Tahiti! Lovely island...
Florida is large, but it’s hard to miss Miami; at least for airline connections... ;)

Mariposa,
Art Deco in South Beach comes from the thirties, so there already some decades on those buildings... And for stories, we have Capone!! ;)

Marja,
You know, I didn’t make Napier on my two previous visits to New Zealand, but I’ll make it on the third... ;) New Zealand always attracts me, as it’s basically in the antipodes of Portugal!!

Lifecruiser,
It would probably be a bit monotonous if everything would look Art Deco everywhere... ;))

Pietro,
Thanks for your support, even in difficult technical conditions... ;) Hope this re-sizing of the blog is helping your connection!! But you must agree that a large size picture looks much better... ;))

Celine,
WOW! Welcome back furious traveller!! ;)) So, in Kuwait and free? I thought you were free abroad and caught working there...
Hope you have as much fun with Blogtrotter Two as with the previous blogs! All the best!
xoxo

MedaM,
Thanks! I’m glad that you like the new format of the blog. With your thoughtfulness, it always comes as a compliment!!

Barb,
Thanks! Hope you also enjoy this new version!!
There was only a grey day during the time we were cruising Miami and the Caribbean!!

Baron,
Great to read you back commenting!! Sorry to read about the accident! Hope everything is fine now!! All the best to you and family also!!

Ted,
As I’m not travelling that much these days and the delay is always roughly at one year (though trying to decrease it a little bit...) I’ll probable introduce fewer pictures for more baroque environments rather than using collages that downgrade the picture quality...

Piika,
Great to read you here also!

Joyce,
Love that expression of yours: kewelopolis!! You used it in my Pamukkale post, but never explained what it means. Probably you don’t read my replies... ;)
The header is Moorea, Tahiti!!

Peter,
They recovered them and that meant big business for the district; no wonder they keep it in good shape... It seems it was a dirty sector to be destroyed just before recovery starts with the work of Ms. Capitman and her League...!

Sue,
My pleasure!!