Miami Architecture Walking Tour

The "tropical playground" of Miami Beach has been an architectural laboratory from the start. While it's most often associated with art deco buildings from the 1930s and early 1940s, it is also rich with examples of Mediterranean Revival (1920s) and International and Modern styles, beginning in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s architects such as Morris Lapidus, who designed the Fontainebleau Hotel, developed a style that's now called Miami Modern or MiMo, adding fun and glamor to modernism. Best examples can be found along Collins Avenue on middle and upper Miami Beach. In the 21st century, internationally recognized architects are pushing the envelope with projects such as Frank Gehry's New World Symphony Hall and parking garages (yes, parking garages!) by Gehry, Herzon & de Meuron and Zaha Hadid. You'll find a little of everything within walking distance on Lincoln Road Mall at the northern end of the Architectural District, plus opportunities to dawdle over food and drink while you contemplate architectural details. The Architectural District (often called the Art Deco District) was added to the U.S. Registry of Historic Places in 1979.