Intro to Miami

Known for art deco architecture, Cuban culture, and luxury fashion, this coastal city was immortalized in the 80s by Hollywood.

Poster for the hit NBC television show Miami Vice starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas (1984). Via IMDB.

View of South Beach looking North, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2018). Photo by Mark (@mprage) and via Unsplash (edited, color-corrected, and cropped).

Intro

Television viewers across the world will know Miami and its surroundings from the hit 1980s cop drama Miami Vice. The program introduced a global audience to the designs of Italian fashion brands Armani and Versace, as well as made Miami a popular tourist destination.

“Compared to today, [South Beach] was like a ghost town,” says Dennis Wilhelm, a member of the Miami Design Preservation League. Worse than that, Miami — declared the “U.S. Murder Capital of 1984” — was a haven for drug traffickers.

Alison Meek, Associate Professor in History at King’s University College in Ontario, writes, “The television version of the city was a sanitized version of Miami, a Hollywood version of Miami. It truly became a case of life imitating art as city officials and tourism officials tried to take the new image of Miami Vice and run with it.”

The main entrance to Villa Casa Casuarina, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Fashion

Calabrian-born Gianni Versace himself purchased a home in Miami Beach after he stopped by the city on the way to a vacation in Cuba. He purchased Villa Casa Casuarina in 1992. Versace also purchased the building next door, the Art Deco Hotel Revere, which he demolished — despite opposition from the Miami Design Preservation League — to expand the property.

Art Deco buildings line Ocean Drive on South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2018). Photo by Tuan Nguyen and via Unsplash (color-corrected).

Architecture

Miami is home to “the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the world”. This is thanks in part to the Miami Design Preservation League, which was founded in 1976 by architecture enthusiast Barbara Baer Capitman. “My whole life had been Art Deco,” Capitman stated. She devoted her life to protect these buildings. “I was born at the beginning of the period and grew up during the height of it. It’s a thing of fate.”

A room in the East Galleries of the Rubell Museum, Miami, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together — Transcending Boundaries, A Whole Year per Hour by teamLab, installation in Superblue Miami, Miami, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Art

Miami is home to a burgeoning art scene, including the world-class private collection of the Rubell Family, which consists of works by Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, and Yoshitomo Nara, among others.

The experiential art center Superblue Miami — which opened just earlier this year — is conveniently located across the street from the Rubell Museum, featuring the work of Dutch collective Studio Drift, Japanese group teamLab, as well as artists James Turrell and Es Devlin.

Fly’s Eye Dome, 1979/80-2014, glass and fiberglass, by Buckminster Fuller, with Goetz Composites, ConformLab, and DRDesign, Palm Court, Miami Design District, Miami, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Shopping

More art can be found at Miami’s Design District, which has blossomed within the last twenty years. The District is home to over 120 flagship luxury stores, such as fashion brands Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Versace. Public art, great food, and lots of Insta-worthy moments can also be found in the area.

Enjoying a Delicia Tropical drink, Cubano sandwich with pulled pork, and maduros, at Havanna 1957 on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Cuisine

In part due to proximity to the island, and similarity in climate, Miami is home to a large Cuban population. Cubans began to migrate to Florida during Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959. Today Miami-Dade County is home to some 700,000 Cuban-born residents, which account for a quarter of the County’s population.

Cuban culture has become an integral part of Miami, especially cuisine. Cuban staples include pork, tropical fruits, and seafood. A visit to the area is simply not complete without a taste of Cuba.

The gardens at Villa Vizcaya, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Nature

South Florida is home to a diverse ecology of marshes, swamps, and sandy beaches. Tragically, much of the tropical hardwood hammock ecosystem has been destroyed for urban development. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is one of few places in the Miami where such an ecosystem can be found. The Villa also offers multiple acres of well manicured gardens as well as views of the Biscayne Bay.

Bent Pool, 2019, steel, stainless steel, aluminum, concrete, lacquer, lights, by Elmgreen & Dragset, Pride Park, Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

The beaches at Miami Beach, Florida, United States (2021). Photo by DannyWithLove.

Climate

According to the real estate company Zillow, 26% of all U.S. homes at risk of rising sea levels are located in Miami-Dade County. The nonpartisan economic think tank, Resources for the Future, has declared Miami “the most vulnerable major coastal city in the world”.

The projected sea-level rise of six feet (30.48 centimeters) by 2100 will destroy 200 billion dollars worth of Miami real estate. While the state braces for inevitable damage, there’s no better time to visit Miami than the present!