Capitman's Cardozo Leads Way (1979)

Capitman’s Cardozo Leads Way (1979)

Read Time: 3 mins Andrew Capitman, son of Miami Design Preservation League leader Barbara Baer Capitman, was a leading Art Deco rehabilitation pioneer in the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1979, he purchased the Cardozo Hotel with a group of enthusiastic investors who believed in the resurgence of the city through the preservation of its past. Mr. Capitman instinctively knew that a 1930s revival would dramatically improve tourism.

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Six Art Deco Hotels Facing Renovation (1984)

Read Time: 2 mins In 1984, six hotels underwent major renovations that would mark the second wave of an Art Deco revival in South Beach. According to a Miami Herald article written by Paul Shannon on July 8, 1984, Royale Group Ltd. officials secured a $13.5 million loan to pay for the planned renovation, which included painting and refurbishing in the original Art Deco style.

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Treasure or Trash, the Hotel is Gone (1981)

Read Time: 3 mins Editors Note: The Barbara Baer Capitman archives “Historic Threads” project is partly sponsored by the Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and the State of Florida. Despite preservationists’ efforts to save

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Deco district on the Beach could be draw (1981)

Deco district on the Beach could be draw (1981)

Read Time: 3 mins In the 1980s, Miami Beach faced a dilemma that would crucially impact its future: Would it turn into a city full of brand-new skyscraper condos, or would it be a revitalized city honoring its past with an eye toward its future? The following quotes are from a Miami Herald editorial written by Charles Whited on January 29, 1981, in which he argues that Art Deco could save the desolate island and move it toward a cultural revival.

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Historic Threads: Revitalizing America's Historic Resorts: Annual 'Back to the City' conference opens April 13 in Art Deco district (1984)

Revitalizing America’s Historic Resorts: Annual ‘Back to the City’ conference opens April 13 in Art Deco district (1984)

Read Time: 3 mins The annual Back to the City conference was a significant gathering focused on urban preservation and revitalization efforts in historic American cities. The conference served as a platform for discussing the resurgence of residential and commercial interests in decaying inner cities, aiming to rejuvenate and preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of these urban areas.

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Restoration Fever Spreads: Two buy ‘jewel of Ocean Dr.’ (1986)

Read Time: 2 mins Now known most famously as the former home of Gianni Versace during the 1990s, in the 1980s the Villa Casa Casuarina was an apartment house called the Amsterdam Palace. At the time this article was written, the property was among the most sought-after in all of South Beach. Developers Gerry Sanchez and Amancio Victor Suarez bought the property for double its real estate value:

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Collins Canal Recommended for Historic Status

Read Time: 3 mins Before the Venetian Causeway and much of Miami Beach was developed, there was a waterway that made much of its development possible. This waterway – overlooked by many for too long – is now in the final stages of review and approval to receive historic status by the City of Miami Beach.

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Preservationists Fight to Save Bass Museum Area (1988)

Read Time: 2 mins At the time, preservationists fought to make this quaint neighborhood a historic district. Then referred to as the Bass District, the area is between Washington and Collins Avenue from 16th to 23rd Street. It features some of the best examples of Art Deco and Mediterranean architecture.

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2024 Docomomo US National Symposium

2024 Docomomo US National Symposium Comes to Miami May 29-June 1

Read Time: 2 mins Experience one of the country’s richest collections of mid-century and postmodern architecture as Docomomo US holds its National Symposium in Miami, Miami Beach, and Coral Gables, May 29th to June 1st, 2024. Entitled Streams of Modernity: Postwar to Postmodern, the symposium is a collaboration of Docomomo US and the Docomomo US/Florida chapter.

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Keith Haring at the Wham Bam on Washington Avenue (1988)

Read Time: 2 mins Found among the archives PostMortem, a South Beach newspaper that ran from 1988-1990 and focused on arts and culture. A full-page ad announces a reception for the artist Keith Haring on Monday, May 2nd, 1988, at the Wham Bam at 437 Washington Avenue in South Beach.

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A City Embraces Preservation (1986)

Read Time: 2 mins Barbara Baer Capitman, founder of the Miami Design Preservation League and monumental leader in the movement to save Art Deco, fought tirelessly for the preservation of Art Deco in the 1970s and 1980s. But it wasn’t until about 10 years into the effort that preservationists began to be taken seriously at the local level.

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‘Streamline Dreamtime’ Art Deco Weekend (1988)

Read Time: 3 mins In 1988, the Miami Design Preservation League held its 11th Annual Art Deco Weekend. The festival’s theme was Streamline Dreamtime. Ocean Drive and the Art Deco District were slowly progressing from a hopeful dream to an innovative reality.

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