Art Deco Tour of South Beach
Item Number: 180
Time Left: CLOSED
Description
Enjoy an 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the Art Deco District in Miami Beach for up to ten people. The tour will be conducted by John Bachay, Boardmember of the Miami Design Preservation League and Art Deco expert.
In the United States, Art Deco was a product of new ideas and movements and found its inspirations in many distinct early 20th Century European design styles such as Cubism, French Art Deco, German Bauhaus and Expressionism, Dutch de Stijl and Amsterdam School, Vienna Secession and others.
Miami Beach's building boom came during the second phase of Art Deco known as Streamline Moderne, which began with the stock market crash and ended in most cases with the outbreak of World War II. It was less decorative -- a more sober reflection of the Great Depression. It relied on more machine-inspired forms, and American ideas in industrial design. It was buttressed by the belief that times would get better and was infused with the optimistic futurism extolled at America's Worlds Fairs of the 1930s. Stripped Classic or Depression Moderne was a sub-style often used for governmental buildings, the U.S. Post Office being the best example in Miami Beach. Miami Beach architects used local imagery to create what we now call Tropical Deco. These buildings feature relief ornamentation featuring whimsical flora, fauna and ocean-liner motifs to reinforce the image of Miami Beach as a seaside resort.
Special Instructions
Donated by
John Bachay