LTC 215-2011 New Website and Brochure � U
A I B EA CH
MVI M
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
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NO. # -201 - -- - LETTER TO C OV 161 Nkh 0 29
TO: Mayor Matti, Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: August 31, 2011
SUBJECT: New website and brochure about iMo architecture on Miami Beach
The purpose of the LTC is to inform the Mayor and Commission about the launch of a new
website and brochure entitled "MiMo on the Beach." This is a City project that has been
financed in part with a historic preservation grant ($9,200) provided by the National Park
Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, administered through the Bureau of Historic
Preservation,. Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State,_ assisted by -the
Florida Historical Commission. t
The website, www.MiMoOnTheBeach.com and the companion brochure are. intended to
educate the public about the significance of the Miami Modern style of architecture and to
promote tourism. There are four historic districts featured in this material: j Morris Lapidus /
Mid - Twentith Century District, North Beach Resort District, North Shore National Register
District and Normandy Isles National Register District. The international exposure afforded by
the website should help to bring tourists and potential investment to North Beach. This is not
unlike the process of education and publicity about Deco architecture that took place in
South Beach many years ago.
The brochure will be distributed to visitors in Miami Beach through the hotels and visitor
information centers. While the brochure contains a brief summary of MiMo and the four historic
districts, its main function is to encourage people to visit the website where they can find a
plethora of information and photographs; including self: guided walking tours that they can
download to explore the MiMo districts while visiting Miami Beach. There is also contact
information about the monthly guided walking tour jointly sponsored by MDPL and NBDC.
This project was directed by the Planning Department with assistance! from the Public
Information Office and the IT Department. Graphic design and website development were
provided by an outside consultant. The total cash outlay by the City was $2,543. The website
is scheduled to go live on or before September 1, 2011.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Attachments
JMG/ /RGL/WC /JAM
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.
DISCOVER
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ON THE BEACH
MIAMI MODERN ARCHITECTURE
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NORTH SHORE NATIONAL REGISTER DISTRICT G �
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in SHO 9 NORMANDY D X717
2009, the historic district contains 473 architecturally 9 W
significant buildings which include small garden a
apartment buildings, motels, and institutional and
commercial buildings.
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After World War II, the North Beach area became a
lure for middle -class residents seeking a tropical resort M W
lifestyle, and the architecture of the buildings conveys LA GORC''' s o " o IS 4
that sensibility. Roofs are generally flat. Natural stone,
slump brick, and patterned stucco cover the facades.
Other eye- catching architectural details include
perforated concrete screens punctuated by idiosyncratic
pylon forms, projecting concrete fins and decorative
modern metal details. Most of the buildings wrap
around intimate garden patios.
Biscayne Bay
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NORMANDY ISLES NATIONAL REGISTER DISTRICT IN
R Laid out in the 1920s according to the tenets of the "City
Beautiful Movement," Normandy Isles consists of two
partially man -made islands — Isle of Normandy and
Normandy Shores. Broad curvilinear streets, with
apropos French names, extend and run along
well- defined residential and commercial districts,
culminating at a centerpiece civic plaza and monument,
the Vendome Fountain.
The eastern portions of the two islands comprise this
historic district, which was listed in the National Register
of Historic Places in 2008. Although a number of W463
Mediterranean Revival and Moderne style structures
can be found among the district's 201 architecturally
significant buildings, the vast majority are MiMo -style
garden apartment buildings constructed between 1945 ST
and 1963.
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GUIDED WALKING TOURS
♦f �,��, North Shore National Register District —
Want to learn more about Miami Modern
architecture? Join this monthly 90 -- minute guided
THE NORTH BEACH RESORT HISTORIC DISTRICT walking tour of the North Shore district. You'll learn
Receiving local historic designation in 2005, this how to identify the many unique traits of MiMo
district stretches from 63 to 71 Streets along Collins architecture by visiting a number of different public
Avenue. After World War II, this area developed into a and private buildings. For information contact the
major tourist and entertainment attraction. The Deauville Miami Design Preservation League,
Carillon, Casablanca and Sherry Frontenac are among
this unique mid - century historic district's grand hotels. www•mdpl.org /tours 305.672.2014
While their names might have evoked exotic European
or African locales, the resorts were truly all- American, SELF - GUIDED TOURS
catering to a vacationing public eager to experience Explore at your own pace with our self- guided
an all- inclusive fantasy right in their own backyard. walking tours. Download the tour brochures for
Each full- service hotel welcomed tourists with a grand each of the four MiMo districts at
lobby, as well as swanky cocktail lounges and supper www.MiMoOnTheBeach.com
clubs boasting top -notch acts; thematic restaurants vast
ballrooms, banquet halls and meeting rooms; a SPECIAL EVENTS AND OTHER MIMO NEWS „k
multitude of retail shops; enormous swimming pools, www.MiMoOnTheBeach.com
extensive sundecks and solariums, plus a sweeping
array of highly popular private beach cabanas.
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THE MORRIS LAPIDUS /MID 20TH CENTURY
HISTORIC DISTRICT Designated historic by the City
of Miami Beach in 2010, this district runs along a r
one -mile stretch of Collins Avenue. Once lined with 0'16mw
opulent mansions owned by American industrialists,
this area contains 14 properties, 12 of which are AL Z
architecturally significant mid -20th century structures
built between 1954 and 1966.
A remarkable five of these buildings are among the GU!P��Glf�
most distinctive, grand, and architecturally dramatic
mid - century structures designed by internationally MIMOON BEACH. COM
acclaimed Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus. This
extraordinary collection of Lapidus' masterpieces,
together with seven mid - century structures designed by
other highly respected and successful architects,
exemplifies the full aesthetic, social, economic and
historic impact that this one single mile stretch would
have on the evolution of "Miami Modern" design.
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MIAMI MODERN, BETTER KNOWN AS MiMo, IS A This brochure is published by the City of Miami Beach
STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE FROM THE POST WORLD for a community education project that has been
WAR II ERA (1945 to mid- 1960s) that originated in financed in part with historic preservation grant
Miami and Miami Beach as a local adaptation of the assistance provided by the National Park Service, U.S.
various modernist architectural movements that were Department of the Interior, administered through the
taking place in other parts of the world. MiMo buildings Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical
responded to the subtropical climate and the booming Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the
resort economy, adding glamour, fun, and material Florida Historical Commission.
excess to otherwise stark, minimalist and efficient styles. M I AM I B EAC H
The predominant types of MiMo buildings in Miami Graphic Design by Sublime Miami, Inc.
Beach are the glamorous resort hotels (such as the Eden Edited by Nina Korman
Roc, Fontainebleau, and Deauville) and the modest Photo credits: City of Miami Beach, Raelene Mercer,
garden style apartments and tourist lodgings that Thomas Delbeck, Robin Hill, Arthur Marcus
housed the burgeoning middle class population. Both
types feature playful MiMo architectural features like To request this material in accessible format, sign language interpreters,
information on access for persons with disabilities, and /or any
acute angles, delta wings, sweeping curved walls and accommodation to review any document or participate in any city- sponsored
soaring pylons. proceeding, please contact 305.604.2489 (voice) or 305.673.7218 (TTY)
five days in advance to initiate your request.
MWOON THE BEACH. COM
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