Tanglewood Conservatories Blog – Alan Stein's Writings about Custom Conservatory Design and More

The annual convention of the American Institute of Architects, this year held in Miami, wrapped up last week after four days of seminars, workshops and exhibitions.

Attendance seemed to down quite a bit from years past however the strong program was welcomed by everyone I spoke with. Many attendees make a point of coming for the continuing education credits available.

Our attendance gave us a great opportunity to get out and about the fashionable South Beach historic district.

Running right through town is Ocean Drive, a hip see and be seen corridor of cool shops, eateries overflowing the sidewalks and super cool hotels.

The coolest by far is the elegant and historic Delano Hotel, originally named in honor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and renovated in the mid 1990’s with Madonna as a partner.

Entry to the main lobby is gained through archways in the mature topiary which encloses the entire front of the hotel and sets the stage for the magical, surreal interior. Once inside, twenty-foot tall, white sheer drapes divide the cavernous hall in to intimately crafted “stage sets” of elegant variety. Sparsely decorated with the most unusual of pieces, a fantasy atmosphere somewhere between Alice in Wonderland and the Arabian Nights flows through onto to the back patio, down the wide grassy steps to a lawn surrounded by a village of private cabanas and then out to the pool.

Palm-tree lined Ocean Drive is also lined with an amazing concentration of tropical, Art Deco architecture, the largest in the world. The entire Deco District consists of about 800 of these remarkable pastel treasures originally built in the 1920’s through 1940’s.

The entire, wonderfully eclectic concoction of pink, peach, lavender and teal buildings is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the buildings are small to midsized hotels with restaurants and shops at street level.

I noticed an interesting feature on many of the buildings. At first glance, they appeared to be decorated with beautiful, subtly shaded marble panels. However as I got closer, I realized it was actually coral, not marble, I suspect cut from the tropical reefs offshore!

The entire South Beach area is a unique national treasure, so purely American, a must stop on any tour of great Americana.

Alan