1616-27 National Report NYTimes Old Buildings Cool Miami 1
SUNDAY,MAY 16,2004 National Report
mhe liew Mork(Timed i
Push to Make Old Buildings ,,. ��.,
_
Cool Again in Miami Beach `�" ' `` y
By ABBY GOODNOUGH Mr. Robinson and Ms. D'Amico .! '' I '
have led a fight to save MiMo build- ,
MIAMI BEACH,May 15—Unlike ""a,-,_
the sleek Art Deco hotels that draw mgr,and while they have not always ` \\ '
hordes of hipsters to South Beach, succeeded — classic MiMo hotels ",
like the Bel-Aire and the Royal York r �
the International Inn, a few miles were demolished in recent years— ' ip ..
north,looks like another aging con- they have unquestionably raised Mi- ,,,,,
crete-block motel,just this side ofIn i.
i
seedy.But look harder and glimpse Ma's stature.o January,the created a _
Y g P Beach City Commission a a
budding architectural trend that MiMo historic district along 12 .
some here hope will have Deco's cool blocks of Collins Avenue,the city's ' ". �"
cachet before long. main drag.That will protect a clus- . -,� _ Y
It already has a catchy name: ter of large oceanfront hotels like the - �`" - -'" • ` ''• , w
MiMo,short for Miami Modernism, Sherry Frontenac and the Radisson ,� }' ,
f
which two design buffs coined five Deauville,built in 1947 and 1957. ,
years ago for the building style that The North Beach Development ,i'� 41 li.O _ ..alk., 1,1
4.4....
here in the postwar boom Corporation,a nonprofit group,has ,.;, .. -: .=` i ' �`
of the 50's. Think space-age opti- jumped on the bandwagon,exploring ' '" 1>,
mism and touches of whimsy.Think ways to market MiMo and with it, r1 .,
massive, swanky and quaintly North Beach,which the group is try- P.'- I
cheesy,like velvet paintings or show- mg to revitalize.As part of a"MiMo
girl headdresses. in May"celebration,the group has r r4 ,` ,I iii g i
A growing group of preservation- printed MiMo walking tour maps and r j{ . i ie �
ists,politicians,developers and tour- offered more formal tours and lec- - , _ k " 1 -
tures.
Meanwhile,a MiMo photogra-. 6k - s
-phy exhibit is on display at Miami • - ` -; ,.- a' �-
International Airport and will move Photographs by Barba.,rrernanae.for The new York roves
'
to the Museum of Florida History in
Tallahassee later this year. p Exam les of MiMo architecture:the Casablanca Ho,
Think massive,
it: ,}; tel,left;the International Inn,above;and the Fon-
y "We're trying to bring people's
swanky and quaintl ' tainebleau Hilton in North Miami Beach. Fans of
attention to the fact that indeed it's _ y,
cheer like velvet very attractive architecture," said
4 r MiMo,short for Miami Modernism,hope the build
-
cheesy, Jeannie Tidy,the group's executive _- �^ ing style will come to have the cool cachet of Art Deco.
paintings. director. Ms. Tidy said that as a -- . /i`
preservationist in New Orleans,she 2 7
had helped rekindle appreciation for r. = i "v `{' -
shotgun houses that had fallen into i; a .i ,
ism promoters are angling for MiMo neglect,and that she hoped to do the - 3 3.
(pronounced MY-mo)to become a same with MiMo buildings. _ ill '' '
a "
revered symbol of Miami Beach just Marketing Minto is more of a chal- _ \- `
as Art Deco did in the 80's,when a lenge than marketing Art Beco,Mr. �: g ; } -
movement took off to restore the Robinson said,because MiMo build- i , f �
crumbling Deco buildings of South ings are spread over a much larger ta ,,+'.
Beach and use their distinctive de- area,not just Miami Beach but Sun- 1' # - �,(
ny Isles, Bay Harbor Islands and -
' =i I j I �,
sign as a marketing tool.The renova- \ '"(Y
tions proved instrumental to the re- North Miami,to name a few other s .- , ,. a,
places,and are less uniform in ap- ' -
vitalization of South Beach,starting pearance. On Collins Avenue,they --with Art Deco's prominent role in i
"Miami Vice."Now,people are hop- are interspersed among indistinctive a« - '_�
ing MiMo can do the same for the condominium towers whose style _,
northern half of Miami Beach. Mr.Robinson likes to call"NoMq" _ - _
as in"no more." The historic Art " ' '-`"�""°`'°" `
"There is an enormous ocean of Deco district in South Beach,on the
the 1940's. Mr. Robinson said that People like Christina LaBuzetta,a first season in 2002-03. the Delano,a hot Deco hotel in South
popular culture that can be enlisted other hand, is compact and more
in getting people to make positive cohesive: all pastels and stream- many who live among MiMo build- location scout,are trying to help that "They didn't want to do Deco be- Beach.She said it took her a while tq
associations with 50's architecture," lined symmetry. ings do not value them because they change come faster by promoting cause'Miami Vice'did Deco,"Ms. recognize and appreciate MiMo.
said Randall Robinson,a planner for To some,Art Deco buildings are an newer and in many cases more MiMo buildings for use in film,tele- LaBuzetta said."This is something "It so reminds me of where we.
the Miami Beach Community Devel- also more immediately appealing, plain.Many rely on light and shadow vision ail photography shoots.Ms. new and cool and still kind of undis- were 20 years ago with Deco,"she,
opment Corporation who,with Teri with their elegant ornamentation for decorative effect instead of orna- LaBuzetta, whose company, Loca- covered." Ms. LaBuzetta also got said. "Nobody appreciated it, and.
D'Amico,an interior designer,creat- and smallish size.They also look like mentation,he said. lion Resources,is based here,said American Eagle,a clothing compa- there was a movement to tear a lot of
ed the term MiMo."It's a matter of antiques,and for Miami Beach,in- "It's about taking what they've got she had persuaded the producers of ny,to shoot its spring catalog at the it down.You have to have an eye for
time grid manpower and money to do corporated in 1915,they are; most and changing the point of view on it," "CSI: Miami,'on CBS,to incorpo- International Inn,where rooms are MiMo; that's where it's at right.
it." Art Deco buildings here went up in Mr.Robinson said. rate MiMo buildings into the show's $56 a night versus well over$300 at now."
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