CITY OF MIAMI BEACH

Year-round sunshine, exotic natural beauty, and world-renowned recreational facilities draw thousands of visitors to Miami Beach each year

.MIAMI BEACH ART DECO HISTORIC DISTRICT

Beyond the radiant sun, surf and sand, discover Miami Beach’s rich history as an entertainment and cultural destination, from world-famous Art Deco architecture to renowned nightclubs to designer fashions on Collins Avenue and Lincoln Road. The Miami Beach Architectural District (sometimes called the Art Deco District) contains the largest concentration of 1920s and 1930s resort architecture in the United States. These vibrantly colored buildings represent an era when Miami Beach was heavily promoted and developed as a "tropical playground. " The district was one of the earliest National Register listings to recognize the importance of the architecture of this period. The area was laid out and developed rapidly, resulting in an extraordinary architectural consistency. The buildings constructed in the 1920s were designed almost exclusively in the Mediterranean Revival style, while those built in the 1930s are in the Art Deco, International, or Moderne styles. The district can be divided into three neighborhood types based on function and use --the seasonal hotel area (along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue) with such notable hotels as the Amsterdam, reputed to be a replica of Christopher Columbus' home in Santo Domingo; the commercial area (along Washington Avenue and Lincoln Road); and the residential area (concentrated in the eighty square blocks surrounding Flamingo Park) with one of the largest concentrations of Mediterranean style residences in the United States.