The Fontainebleau Miami is rising.
I am not talking about the reinvention of the famous
Miami Beach hotel, but rather the sudden emergence of a palatial 14-acre estate on the southwestern fringes of
Miami-Dade County.
After a brief
Miami-Dade property search, it turns out that the home belongs to one of the area’s top skyscraper designers;
Charles Sieger, designer of the urban
50 Biscayne, ultra luxurious
Apogee condominium in SOBE, and revolutionary
Portofino tower, among other projects.
It is a paradox to see one of the area’s top condominium designers, a proponent for urban life
I would assume, build a sprawling mansion on land situated outside of the urban development boundary.
The house itself is set back quite a distance from the street. I drove by recently catching this glimpse, perplexed that a house in this area could be built with such a short setback. I turned around and drove by again, realizing that this was only a “guardhouse” of sorts and that the “real” mansion lay somewhere behind a few acres of well manicured gardens, obelisks, and fountains. This area is no stranger to oversized palaces as we noted back in April in a post, which incidentally featured a picture of the entrance to this estate. 
I assume the home is modeled after the famous Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, France, the same location where Charles Sieger studied in 1968 at the Ecoles D’Art Americaines according to his resume.
This intriguing new structure by Thom Mayne/Morphosis can help to clear up any misgivings about great architecture and limited budgets. The San Francisco Federal building is an 18 story building and was brought in under budget at 144 million dollars, about $249 / square foot. This very reasonable price for such a major structure shows that with careful planning and innovative conscious designers anything is possible.
In the name of challenging our understanding of global visual cues, can anybody identify this museum? It should be noted that there is little parking anywhere nearby and the building was built within a very reasonable budget. Interesting design does not require a great deal of money, just great designers and there are many who work for reasonable compensation. Many who need and deserve the opportunity to do so, as well. The main volume seems to levitate over the glass enclosed first floor. Nearly the entire main volume is sheathed in very inexpensive (with very little weight) translucent ‘cow wall’. Requirements to light the building are diminished greatly with the entire building being translucent. I realize this material is probably not suitable for hurricanes, but there are always creative solutions.
It seems that once again, the debate on whether or not to restore or destroy the Marine Stadium at Virginia Key, is alive and well. As a big supporter of architectural preservation, it seems to me that the answer is clear. The building is so profoundly unique, all lovers of modernism would insist on it’s restoration. The mind boggling structure, visually defies the laws of physics with its incredible cantilevered roof. While many other such buildings met with the wrecking ball shortly before the resurgence of interest in mid century modern, this outdoor public venue, due in part to its non-central location, has remained in disrepair. It seems to me that if a proper restoration could be executed, this unique setting would be a big draw for a number of varied performances.
With so many amazing 20th century masterpieces, Miami is once again an example of a particular originality not found anywhere else in the U.S. This collection of buildings should be preserved at all costs. There is an active community striving to see to this. The recent declaration of Miami Modern, or MiMo historic districts, both along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami and in North Beach, in the city of Miami Beach, brought a collective sigh of relief..
There are however many worthy historical buildings that do not fall within any of these historic districts. Bay Harbor Islands is home to an extensive collection of such jewels, and it seems as if the city officals will not declare them protected, despite the vocal preservationists doing their best. By virtue of its massive scale and futurist beauty the Marine Stadium of Virginia Key is arguably the most significant of all these buildings. I will continue to keep all who are interested, informed as to how they can contribute to the struggle to honor South Florida’s architectural heritage.
At the forefront of
Miami’s residential development boom, stand the designs of the local, ambitious architect
Chad Oppenheim.
The young
Cornell Graduate, only 34, has made a splash in the architecture scene with his innovative modern designs and
latest plans for
energy efficient buildings.
The soon to be completed
Ten Museum Park is his first major contribution to the
Miami skyline.
Of all the buildings rising along the “
Miami wall” (Biscayne Boulevard Condos,) Ten Museum Park will have the greatest effect on the skyline despite being the shortest of the five towers rising.
I found the following pictures on an online forum I frequently visit, they were originally posted by
Edrag Tnava and provide us with some exclusive first looks at the inside of one of our most innovative condominium towers thus far:
Bathroom:
View of Biscayne Boulevard beautification project:
Interesting Windows minimize the impact of the neighboring towers currently rising:
The Loft:
Awhile back (
January 5, 2007) I first read about an accidental meeting between a famous Chinese architect (Xing Tong) and a pair of Art Deco preservationists (Don and Nina Worth) from
Miami Beach in the
South Florida Business Journal and
Miami Sunpost.
It’s an interesting story which remarkably led to the
Shanghai designation of the
Art Deco weekend back in January.
I somehow didn’t report on it back then, but, follow the links above to get an idea on the background story.
Apparently both Shanghai and Mumbai (Bombay) have architecturally significant and Art Deco districts, both of which are in peril due to impeding construction and modernization efforts. The Asian delegation arrived in January to not only experience the South Beach deco district but to also learn how to preserve their own buildings while establishing them into bustling pivotal parts of the city. In a sense similar to the preservation efforts along Miami Beach in the 1970’s, Shanghai’s officials are working hard to protect what is left of their Art Deco buildings, seeing that already countless have been lost. Deke Erh, a Shanghai photographer for the past 20 years, has been documenting the destruction; he recently published a book Shanghai Art Deco to bring greater attention to architectural treasures of Shanghai in the 20’s and 30’s before the rise of Mao Zedong.
Mumbai like many other cities in the 20’s and 30’s witnessed unprecedented growth along its waterfront. Many of the building in this time period were designed in the Art Deco style thanks to the initial efforts of the Maharajah of Indore who commissioned some of the leading European architects of the time to construct his palaces: The Manik Bagh and Umaid Bhawan (pictured above.)
“Just as the “Miami Vice” television series had a hand in illuminating certain qualities of Miami Beach’s Deco heritage, Professor Mehrotra made it clear that the pop culture might of Bollywood is helping to preserve whole stretches of beloved buildings in Bombay. Still awaiting “historic district” status, a process begun by Mehrotra and others over ten years ago, the Back Bay and Marine Drive buildings have appeared in so many movies and music videos that developers wrecking ball dare not attack. The inertia is helped along by an antiquated regime of rent control that has frozen both investment and necessary improvements.”
To continue reading on the Miami Beach-Mumbai-Shanghai efforts, read the Slatin Report: Far East of South Beach
Technorati Tags: Miami, Art Deco, Shanghai, Mumbai, Bombay, Architecture, Preservation
Public Picks Favorite American Buildings…It shouldn’t come as surprise but only two Miami buildings are mentioned in the top 150, the Delano and the Fountainebleau, which further reinforces the fact that Miami’s architecture is rather bland and lacks a single iconic structure…
However, in looking at the top 10 “buildings” notice that 4 of them aren’t actually buildings but really just structures…
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