Magical Places To See in the Miami Beach Art Deco District (Landmarks & Things to Do)
One of my favorite styles of architecture has and will always be Art Deco. From being featured in the most dazzling buildings in the New York City skyline (the Chrysler Building, is in my opinion, the most beautiful skyscraper in the world) and featured in some of our favorite destinations, like the Casino on Catalina Island in Southern California.
Combine the beauty of the symmetry, geometric designs, and decorative accents of the era with a pastel-hued palette and a beautiful beach destination. You’ll find the gorgeous collection of ‘tropical deco’ skyline that makes up Miami Beach’s iconic Art Deco District.
Coming to Miami, both of us were eager to spend time in South Beach checking out the striking, colorful district, its colorful lifeguard towers, and famous landmarks like Gianni Versace’s iconic mansion.
Time capsule destinations in the United States are our favorite, like the mid-century modern architecture found in Palm Springs and the remnants of the Golden Age of Hollywood at Catalina Island. Now, South Beach can be added to that list of time capsule destinations, the tropics + Art Deco made it a home run for us aesthetically and the history is fascinating all in of itself.
For any fellow lovers of preservation of the beauty of the past eras, check out what inspired us most about the Art Deco district of Miami and some of our favorite highlights including landmarks, places to visit, and buildings to look out for on your visit and add to your Miami itinerary.
Disclaimer: This post contains commissionable links and was done in collaboration with the Greater Miami & Miami Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Overview of the Miami Art Deco District
The Miami Beach Art Deco District is like a time capsule, built to be the ‘American Riviera’ for wealthy vacationers to Florida. The development of this area was heavily influenced by visionary architects and key architectural movements, including the inspiration of the Art Deco movement itself from Paris which showcased modern styles that would be known as Art Deco in the coming years.
The Art Deco style is influenced by Bauhaus, Futurism, and Cubism incorporating features including streamlined forms, geometric shapes like the ziggurat rooflines, and symmetry. Combine that with the new reputation for Miami as a modern and glamorous destination and you can find the country’s largest concentration of Art Deco structures and buildings.
The designated historic district has 800 buildings including Art Deco, Miami Modern (MiMo), and Mediterranean styles representing different eras of Miami’s history, including the iconic collection of buildings built through the 1920s and 1940s. The Art Deco buildings you see in Miami Beach are considered the second wave of the Art Deco movement known as ‘streamline moderne.’
In the 1970s, a group of visionary preservationists led by Barbara Baer Capitman created the Miami Design Preservation League. Through her vision and work, the district was successfully listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Miami Design Preservation League continues to work hard to preserve the beauty, integrity, and history of this beautiful district from modern developers.
The heart of the Miami Beach Art Deco District is along Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and Washington Avenue between 5th and 23rd streets.
Key Information About Art Deco in Miami:
The Miami Beach Architectural District doesn’t just represent Art Deco preservation, within the district, you’ll also find MiMo (Miami Modern) and Mediterranean styles of architecture. You’ll also find examples of these styles of architecture throughout the city, not just in Miami Beach or South Beach.
- MiMo (Miami Modern) can be found throughout Miami Beach. Morris Lapidus is considered the godfather of this style of mid-century architecture with some of the most iconic buildings behind the Eden Roc and Fontainebleau hotels in Mid Beach, although you’ll find in South Beach is the Palace Cafe on Ocean Avenue.
- Mediterranean Revival-style architecture can be found throughout South Beach and Miami as far back as the early 1920s to attract wealthy vacationers to the area inspired by buildings along the Mediterranean coast in Spain, France, and Italy. Famous examples include Casa Casuarina (Versace’s mansion) and old City Hall in South Beach, along with Villa Vizcaya on Biscayne Bay.
- Art Deco-style buildings in Miami are also referred to as Tropical Deco or Streamline Moderne. You’ll find the largest collection of the art deco hotels in Miami along Ocean Avenue as well as Collins Avenue.
There were several prolific architects that influenced the Art Deco architecture in Miami Beach. Some of the most influential were Lawrence Murray Dixon, Albert Anis, and Henry Hohauser.
- Lawrence Murray Dixon is best known for buildings like the Raleigh Hotel, The Tiffany, and Tides Hotel, a few of the Art Deco hotels in Miami known for their clean lines and tropical flair.
- Albert Anis created the Clevelander Hotel, The Viscay Hotel, and the Avalon Hotel among many others. He often incorporated nautical themes and materials that reflected the tropical and coastal environment.
- Henry Hohauser is best known for a few buildings within the district including the Cardozo Hotel, The Essex House Hotel, and the Colony Hotel to name a few. His work often incorporated overhangs above the windows commonly referred to as ‘eyebrows’.
The famous pastel color palette of Miami Beach is thanks to Leonard Horowitz. In the 1980s, many of the Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach were being restored in the beautiful pastel palette presented by Horowitz.
While these colors are one of the signature traits of the buildings today, these colors weren’t well received until Friedman’s Bakery, repainted in the pastel palette, was featured on the cover of Progressive Architecture magazine.
This kicked off Miami Beach to be a ‘sexy’ destination and attracted artists and creatives including being used in the backdrop of iconic photos, like the Calvin Klein Obsession photoshoot clad with nude male models behind the Breakwater Hotel sign and iconic TV shows and films, including Miami Vice.
Things to do in the Art Deco District of Miami
Art Deco Museum
1001 Ocean Drive
A great place to start your exploring and admiring all the Art Deco in Miami is at the Art Deco Museum located at the Art Deco Welcome Center. This is also a great place to take a cool break if you’re not used to the Miami heat and humidity during the summer season while still soaking up the Art Deco and history of the era.
The museum offers artifacts and educational exhibits on all of the styles of architecture that make up the Miami Beach Architectural District including MiMo, Mediterranean Revival, and Art Deco styles. There are permanent exhibits as well as rotating exhibits all curated and provided by the Miami Design Preservation League.
Not only will you learn how to distinguish between the different architectural styles, but you’ll also learn the key components that are common in these styles of architecture.
While you’re here, be sure to visit the gift shop where you’ll find everything from antiques, books, artwork, and other cool souvenirs.
General Admission $7
Take an Art Deco Tour
One of our favorite highlights from our trip to Miami was our Art Deco Tour with the Miami Design Preservation League. A knowledgeable volunteer will take you on a guided tour up to two hours detailing the history of the area along with the influences and inspiration behind the designs you can still see today.
Each tour guide takes you on a different tour showcasing some of the different buildings in this historic district. If you have a special building in mind beforehand, be sure to ask about it before your tour starts, there’s a good chance they can incorporate it into the tour or give you more information before visiting on your own.
We loved that we got to go inside some of the buildings and have some of the key details and styles pointed out to us giving us a better understanding not only of the history of the area, but deeper appreciation for each of these beautiful buildings.
What’s special about these tours is that your ticket purchase helps fund the Miami Design Preservation League on their ongoing efforts to protect and preserve the collection of buildings that are constantly at threat of modern developments that threaten the integrity of the historic district.
They are constantly faced with the threat of new and big money developments and having to fight for legal protections for this living, open-air museum that gives us a glimpse in the past. And let’s be honest, most modern developments lack the level of detail and design mastery of the past, so their work is important in preserving historic areas as this and your support helps fund their endeavors for future generations to come.
You can learn more about their mission and if you’re compelled to join the cause, you can join the MDPL membership which donates money to their advocacy.
They offer several tours, we did the Art Deco Walking Tour which lasts from 1.5-2 hours and costs $35.
Wolfsonian Museum
1001 Washington Avenue
Another highlight of our trip to Miami was a visit to the Wolfsonian, one of the largest university art collections in the country. The museum’s collections began with Micky Wolfson’s interest in the period of 1850-1950 and the objects he’d find from everyday items, propaganda posters, artifacts, machinery, paintings, and sculptures that chronicle this period.
In 1997, the museum was donated by Wolfson to the Florida International University and has since become one of the largest of its kind devoted to design, the decorative arts, and propaganda.
The exhibits on display are constantly changing, so no two visits will be the same. We were visiting the tail end of ‘Smoke Signals’ and ‘Destination Dining’ exhibits, both of which were fascinating.
Smoke Signals displayed a private collection of masculine objects and decorative cigar cutters of the 19th century. The general sentiment of masculinity isn’t lost while viewing the collection along with the attitudes towards the sexualization of women in some of the designs.
Destination Dining featured menus that represented leisure dining around tourism. Whether it be destination-specific menus or menus used on train dining cars, ocean liners, or even the dining menu from a zeppelin!
The items within the museum’s collection of 200,000 objects all highlight and illustrate the technological, social, and cultural changes from 1850-1950 that transformed our world and the persuasive power art and design had in this period.
While browsing the collections and examining the artwork, you can’t miss the parallels to today and the power of using the past to learn and influence or shape the future.
And to tie into the architecture of the area, the museum is housed in a significant building, the beautifully restored 1927 Mediterranean Revival storage building meant to store wealthy residents’ collectibles and items even including the likes of cars (housing the largest commercial elevator of its time to move said cars up and down to storage units). The building itself is a masterpiece.
Admission is $12, we recommend arranging for a tour to get a deeper understanding of the collections and objects on display.
Check out the Colorful Lifeguard Towers
One of our favorite things we did in Miami was try to seek out as many of the vibrant, flamboyantly designed lifeguard towers we could find along the Miami Beach coastline!
Miami Beach not only offers some of the most breathtaking coastline the country has to offer, but the city flexes its dedication to design by partnering with architect William Lane to create colorful and differently designed lifeguard towers inspired by the midcentury modern and art deco styles prominent in the area combined with the cheerful colors of the Caribbean.
Over 3 dozen lifeguard towers are stretching between South Pointe Park to 86th Street, if you want to collect them all like Pokemon, to seek out. Along South Beach, you can find them dotted along the beach along every street block, as you move north toward Mid Beach and North Beach, they are more spread out.
There are 6 main tower types, each with its own design flair from spiky sunbursts, swooping roof designs, to futurist Googie style towers all painted with a vibrant shade of pink, lime green, orange, fuchsia, and bright blue.
A few of the towers are unlike any other including the red and white lifeguard tower at South Pointe Park to the LGBTQ+ pride tower.
Villa Casa Casuarina – The Former Versace Mansion
1116 Ocean Drive
As a fashion graduate, I have always had an interest in the life story of Gianni Versace, the famous Italian designer, the founder of the Versace label and luxury design house, socialite, gay icon, and owner of this famous Mediterannean-Revivial villa in South Beach.
If you don’t already know or haven’t already seen the Ryan Murphy series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Gianni was fatally shot in July of 1997 on his way home from the News Cafe at his own doorstep.
His home, a 1930 villa, was known for Verace’s lavish decor and his $30 million + in renovations and additions including the renowned Thousand Mosaic Pool with thousands of 24-karat gold tiles imported from Italy.
It’s currently a luxury boutique hotel under the ownership of Victor Hotels Management (the Nakash of the famous Jordache fashion brand) and you can stay in Villa Casa Casuarina, just like many of Versace’s famous guests during his time living here.
If you’re not able to stay in one of the opulent rooms, you can dine at Gianni’s Restaurant with seating around the famous mosaic pool or stop in for a cocktail at the bar to get a glimpse into this iconic property in South Beach.
Dine at the News Cafe
800 Ocean Drive
One of the best places to take a much-deserved meal break in the Art Deco District of Miami is News Cafe. We had brunch here and the food was outstanding, I highly recommend the barbacoa chilaquiles and Scott also enjoyed his chicken and waffles.
But more than the food, this is an iconic spot. Originally opening in 1988 in the ground level of the Tony Hotel, a 1930s Art Deco jewel, the News Cafe was a place you could come 24/7 to dine. It was a popular spot among locals and tourists, along with Italian designer Gianni Versace who used to eat breakfast here daily while reading his Italian newspapers.
It was actually the last stop for Versace on his ill-fated day as he was returning home after his morning routine at The News Cafe.
The restaurant sadly closed in 2021 but re-opened under the eye and partnership with The Goldman Group, of the late Tony Goldman a famed preservationist and Miami real estate developer responsible for another one of the popular things to do in Miami, the Wynwood Walls.
The restaurant pays homage to Gianni Versace along the walls, which is a nice tribute along with other 90s icons and photos.
We highly recommend coming here for a meal, the menu was overwhelmingly full of great sounding options and both of us were more than satisfied with our choices!
Our Favorite Art Deco Buildings in South Beach
So we spent hours walking up and down Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive oohing and ahhing at the different Art Deco hotels in Miami’s designated design district along with making other stops at museums and walking along the beach to see all the different lifeguard towers in between the intermittent rain storms.
There are honestly so many, we left room to be explored next time!
From our visit, here are some of our favorite buildings and beauties we encountered and photographed along with a little information about each one. We really can’t wait to return and check out more!
The Carlyle
1250 Ocean Drive
My absolute favorite Art Deco building in Miami, why? Because it’s one of the only locations in Miami that has ties to the Golden Girls. The Golden Girls is my all time favorite show and the entire series was filmed in Los Angeles, including the facade used for Blanche’s house.
However, The Carlyle Hotel facade was used in the Golden Girls spin-off show, The Golden Palace!
It’s also been used in many other things including the classic movie, The Birdcage. It was even briefly featured in a scene in Scarface, one of the few scenes filmed in Miami.
Can you stay here? Absolutely! It’s actually a luxury condo building and many of the units are rented out as short-term vacation stays.
Cardozo
1300 Ocean Drive
Another icon in the Art Deco District of Miami and famously owned by Miami’s own Gloria and Emilio Estefan!
Built by Henry Hohauser in 1939, this is a quintessential example of Art Deco in Miami. And celebrities like Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez have stayed here!
Like many of the Art Deco beauties on Ocean Drive, The Cardozo was used as a filming location in movies like There’s Something About Mary and Any Given Sunday.
Better yet, this is one of the Art Deco hotels in Miami Beach you can stay at! Check out rooms at The Cardozo.
Avalon Hotel
700 Ocean Drive
Another beautiful example of Art Deco elegance in Miami’s Art Deco District, designed by Albert Anis in 1941. You’ll notice the gorgeous vintage car parked outside, it’s a gorgeous yellow 1955 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible for any car aficionado.
It’s also one of the few Art Deco buildings in Miami’s Art Deco District that still has a neon sign.
And like a few other Art Deco buildings on Ocean Drive, the Avalon Hotel can be seen in Scarface and Miami Vice.
Their seafood restaurant A Fish Called Avalon is a popular nightlife spot and has seen celebrities like Harrison Ford, Guy Ritchie, and Gloria Estefan as clientele!
Can you stay here? Absolutely, this is another fine example of an Art Deco Hotel in Miami’s Art Deco district steps away from the beach on Ocean Drive! Check out the rooms at the Avalon Hotel Miami.
Hotel Breakwater
940 Ocean Drive
Built in 1936 by Anton Skislewicz, you can’t miss this iconic facade with the neon name on the central spire.
My favorite fact about Hotel Breakwater that we learned on our Art Deco Tour was that behind the central spire, a famous and very risque (for its time) 1986 Obsession photoshoot by photographer Bruce Weber for Calvin Klein with nude models was actually taken on the backside of the spire. You would never know unless pointed out and we even had the photo to compare!
The name probably gave it away, but yes you can stay at Hotel Breakwater!
The Colony
736 Ocean Drive
Designed by famed architect Henry Hohauser in 1935, this is another one of the most iconic buildings in Miami’s Art Deco District that still has neon signs that’s been mostly unchanged since its opening in the 1930s.
If you love finding filming locations (or at least find them fascinating like us), Bad Boys and Dexter have both had scenes with The Colony in the backdrop.
The Colony is another one of the best options for Art Deco hotels in Miami you can stay at in South Beach!
The Webster
1220 Collins Avenue
Originally built to be used as a hotel, The Webster Hotel, this building is another jewel from architect Henry Hohauser in 1939.
It’s currently a high-end boutique with luxury brand apparel and accessories familiar among wealthy and celebrity clientele.
You can’t ignore the aesthetically pleasing lines, symmetry, pastel hues, and classic streamline modern characteristics of the building’s appearance.
The Tony Hotel
801 Collins Avenue
The Tony Hotel (formerly known as The Tiffany Hotel) was designed by L Murray Dixon in 1939. This Art Deco masterpiece was originally named after (and inspired by) Tiffany & Co. However, after trademark disputes, the name was changed even though the spire still says Tiffany.
It wasn’t until 2022 though that the hotel was named The Tony Hotel to honor real estate magnate and beloved Miami resident, Tony Goldman. The Goldman family still owns and operates the hotel today (along with Wynwood Walls) and collaborated with the reopening of The News Cafe. It’s also worth noting that Tony Goldman was a huge fan of the Art Deco District and a preservationist, so it’s poetic that the hotel is named after him.
You can stay at this beautiful Art Deco Hotel in Miami. Check out the rooms at The Tony Hotel.
Beach Patrol Headquarters
1001 Ocean Drive
Art Deco in Miami isn’t just found among the hotels on Ocean Drive, The Beach Patrol Headquarters at Lummus Park. This unmistakable Art Deco structure was designed by architect Robert Taylor in 1934.
There are nautical details found in the design, like portholes and using materials like keystone in the design, which was mined from limestone in South Florida where imprints of marine life and coral are present throughout the stone. You’ll actually notice this material used in alot of the Art Deco buildings around South Beach too and other architectural landmarks like Villa Vizcaya on Biscayne Bay.
The lifeguard station and beach patrol headquarters is still active today and is considered one of the oldest in the country!
Leslie Hotel
1224 Ocean Drive
Another Art Deco Hotel in Miami Beach by prolific architect Albert Anis in 1937 and another one of our favorites, the pastel yellow is a welcome pop of color along Ocean Drive and as far as symmetry and sleek lines go, this is one of my favorite examples of Art Deco design in the area.
The best part? You can stay at the Leslie Hotel!
The Park Central
640 Ocean Drive
The Park Central Hotel in the Miami Beach Art Deco District is another gem that beautifully captures the essence of 1930s Miami Beach. Opened in 1937, this is another iconic hotel designed by the famed architect Henry Hohauser.
It was nicknamed the “Blue Jewel of Ocean Drive,” it was a favorite spot for Hollywood stars like Clark Gable and Rita Hayworth.
You can stay at this Art Deco hotel in Miami Beach too! It’s known as the Gabriel Miami South Beach, a part of the Curio Collection by Hilton and a 4-star luxury property.
We really loved exploring Miami’s Art Deco District and around South Beach, this might be our favorite area in the city thanks to all the pastel-colored buildings, fun lifeguard stations, beachfront location, and museums this area has to offer!
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