Architects in mid-century South Florida, working in a subtropical context, eagerly appropriated the Modern Movement but also challenged its rational foundations, its functionalism, and its aesthetics. Responding to climate and landscape, but also to the region’s vocation as a touristic hotspot and to the expectations of diverse waves of immigrants, many architects indulged in flights of whimsy, luxury, and theatricality, creating environments designed to appeal to visitors and the global market. Viewed with more than a half-century of detachment, the ensemble of this work reveals South Florida as an imaginative laboratory where architectural Modernism was tested, expanded and embellished.
Speakers & Presentations
- The Architecture of Whimsy: Mid-20th-Century-Modern Architecture in South Florida
Arthur Marcus - A Coney Island State of Mind: Morris Lapidus
Deborah Desilets - Morris Lapidus Abandons Bourgeois Baroque for Tropical Brutalism
David D. McKinney
Moderator
Allan Shulman
Location
Glasgow Lecture Hall
