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You just won the lottery. You just won the Super Bowl. You just won a settlement from Microsoft. There are plenty of reasons to stay in Miami's most posh penthouses - if you've got the cash.
Casa Decor
It's no secret that Miami is a mecca of interior design. With a wealth of talent, ample square footage to adorn and abundant resources our city has become a wonderland for design and architecture aficionados. For its second year in Miami, CASADECOR'07 appeals to this appetite for visionary design by giving over 60 designers and architects a gargantuan 30,000-square-foot canvas to actualize their aesthetic impulses. The designers converted this year's space–a parking garage on Biscayne Boulevard, just north of the Carnival Center–into a series of fascinating vignettes, beautifying themed rooms with ample mosaic tiling, marble, recycled wood, custom-designed fixtures, rugs, fabrics, furniture and even electronics.
MiMo Glam
Doug and Gene Meyer have channeled Miami's glamorous 1960s hotel scene in their site-specific installation at CASADECOR’07.
South of Fifth
Neighborhood: Normandy Isles
To the hundreds of drivers who pass through Normandy Isles each day on their way to or from the JFK causeway, the neighborhood may seem like a Francophone curiosity – the streets on the island feature grand French names and the wide boulevards and public plaza feel distinctly European. Though the neighborhood is composed of many nationalities including Portuguese, German, Argentinian and Cuban residents, the international make-up does not lean heavily towards the French. Yet the neighborhood has the quaint community-oriented feeling and walkable streets that evoke a European village; there's nary a high-rise building in site and a local farmer's market sets up shop every Saturday by a picturesque fountain. The islands, whose buildings for the most part appear frozen in time, is truly a local's haunt. In terms of character Normandy Isles offers that rare combination of salty beach life – it is simultaneously funky and valuable with the two qualities often working in conjunction with one another to maintain its architectural character and small-town appeal.
Miami Style
A Waterfront Home on Miami Beach Takes Its Cue from the Holiday Homes of British Royalty.
Neighborhood Profile: Belle Meade
If you are thinking of a move to the Upper East Side or Miami's northeast, to what is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after sectors of the city, look beyond the bustling and gentrifying Biscayne corridor to the quiet, well-kept and well-liked neighborhood of Belle Meade. Nicknamed “Beautiful Belle Meade,” the neighborhood's streets are wide and lush with palm and oak trees. The majority of the houses are modest one-story Mediterranean and Bermuda-cottage-style homes. In contrast to its neighbors to the south, the historical districts of Bayside and Morningside, Belle Meade feels lighter, younger and more open to quirks in landscape design and house colors.
Neighborhood Profile: Silver Bluff
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Little do the commuters battling traffic on Dixie Highway to destinations farther south and north know that parallel to the highway is one of Miami's quietest, best located neighborhoods. Its residents are modest, there are no great landmarks to speak of, the city's history lacks the grandiosity and hurricane-riddled drama of other pre-WWII Miami towns and there are no stories of colorful developers staking claim to uninhabited mangroves. Yet it is precisely those prosaic qualities that draw residents to Silver Bluff, that keep them there and that ensconce the neighborhood safely under the radar, keeping housing prices stable and preserving its winsome character.
Fantasy Island
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Walking through the sun-filled home shared by Dacra developer Craig Robins and Design Miami/Basel director Ambra Medda is like taking the Who's Who tour of the art and design world. The 6,000 square foot house is peppered with references to the superstars of contemporary design: a Campana brothers teddy bear chair, a Jean Prouve compas table, Gio Ponti chairs, two John Baldessari paintings, and a Paul McCarthy sculpture are a just a few of noteworthy pieces. It is a fitting abode for two of the most prolific contemporary design collectors in the city.
The Radar Home: Facundo Poj
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Rusty airplane doors, abandoned claw-foot bathubs and rows of old sinks. When others see trash, Facundo Poj sees inspiration for his next line of furniture. The Argentinian designer crafts singular pieces constructed from salvaged materials including antique bathtubs and discarded airplane parts. Part found-art and modish swank, his pieces are often commissioned by corporate clients – the South Beach Food and Wine festival used his orange-colored tubs for their champagne “Bubble Bath” – yet the furniture feels natural in a Mid Century Modern home or a boutique hotel. Now that his collection is available at the “Edge 46” gallery in the Design District, Miami's design addicts will have their pick of Poj's imaginative efforts.
Moving In, Moving Out
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Moving into a new house is an opportunity to take creative leaps. For NiBa co-owner Beth Arrowhead and her husband John Berryman moving from her funky beach condo to a larger Bermuda-style cottage in Miami required a shift in their design paradigm. Marrying the two styles and keeping the eclectic pieces that gave the small apartment its offbeat look required a bit of compromise, ingenuity and loads of white paint.
Cafe Emunah
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Mysticism is hot these days. Perhaps it is a yearning for answers in our increasingly hectic and technology-focused lives, but whatever the reason, in just a few short years the Kabbalah has risen to a fame most pop stars would envy. Beyond all the hoopla, very few people actually know what the Kabbalah is and how it relates to one's life. Dr. Marla Reis, a psychologist turned restaurateur wants to change all that. Her new establishment, located on a quiet stretch of A1A, aims to introduce colorful cuisine that blends Jewish mysticism with a dash of organic chic.
Product Design: Gene Meyer
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A fashion designer whose bold scarves and trippy graphics earned him stints at Geoffrey Been and Marshall Fields, Gene Meyer began designing furniture and rugs with his brother Doug three years ago. Together they helped establish NiBA home in the Design District where his exuberantly-colored rug collections share space with swanky housewares. A forward-thinking designer with an old soul, Meyer has incorporated nostalgic themes from Miami's Deco past into his plush floor pieces.
Graphic Design: Ilona Oppenheim
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There's a building named after her (designed by her architectural powerhouse husband Chad) yet Ilona Oppenheim is becoming known for her meticulously produced graphic design materials, small masterpieces rising to the top in a sea of developer-generated hype. Inspired by the works of Massimo Vinelli and Bruce Mau, the soft-spoken Swiss designer brings that rare combination of European grace and appreciation of form to the Miami design circuit.
Interior Design: Charles Allem
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South African-born Charles Allem imbues his interior design work with an eclecticism that refuses to be pigeon-holed into a “signature style.” His monochromatic interiors have graced such high profile projects as the W Las Vegas, private residences in California and Miami and the upcoming redesign of the Savoy Hotel in South Beach.
Architecture: Chad Oppenheim
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Chad Oppenheim is one of those creative types who is unabashedly optimistic and yet undeniably cool. His buildings have pleased both critics and an increasingly discerning public with an insatiable appetite for design. Equally at ease at glitzy Miami parties as when delivering a lecture on sustainable building practices, Oppenheim has steadily advanced his imaginative structures through an often frenetic development market. His projects illustrate a desire to elevate the Miami skyline and test the bounds of creativity. Sublime buildings like Ten Musuem Park and Cor are launching both Oppenheim and Miami into the global design stratosphere.
Visual Importance
Gone Shopping: Tel Aviv
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From the start Tel Aviv, which translates as “Spring Hill,” has been a destination for artists and designers. This reputation culminated in the 1930’s when many of the forerunners of the International Style emigrated from Europe and quickly set about molding an architectural mecca for the modernist set. Dubbed the White City, Tel Aviv boasts the largest concentration of Bauhaus buildings in the world. Four years ago UNESCO declared Tel Aviv a World Heritage site prompting the city to restore many of its neglected structures. Architects are still drawn to the Mediterranean beach city for its continued embrace of progressive design. Philippe Starck and Richard Meier have residential projects in the works and Santiago Calatrava just finished a pedestrian footbridge in Petah Tikvah, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The city has also revived other landmark areas such as the old city of Jaffa (which is now home to upscale restaurants in addition to it famous antique bazaars) and the northern port area filled with cavernous lounges and fashion outlets. All this urban renewal has buttressed the city’s vibrant art and design community, with many designers opening showrooms and mass-producing their coveted designs.
Wired
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When designing a home, deciding on lighting is sometimes a bewildering task. Too much light in one area or too little in another and one is left with a dining area that is anything but romantic and a salon where a flashlight would come in handy. And if there is any single element of interior design that quickly evokes drama it is lighting. That is why more interior designers are turning to companies that have experience in the commercial market.
Architectural Elements Star at Film Fest Awards
On the last night of the Miami International Film Festival and after a week of watching fantastic films, all anyone wanted to do was celebrate and dance. The committee for the Miami International Film Festival transformed the second floor of the Alfred I. Dupont Building into a flashy, thumping nightclub, replete with plush white couches and a mammoth dance floor. After the festival's awards presentation and a screening of the film Ira & Abby at the regal Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, partygoers flocked across the street to the Dupont Building to celebrate the completion of the 2007 festival. The party was both a celebration of this year's festival and a kickoff for the festival's 25th anniversary next year.
Gone Shopping: Tokyo
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Tokyo is a sprawling, blinking, shopping-happy city. Every bit of space—air and land— is used to satisfy the city’s 12 million inhabitants’ insatiable urge for the new, the shiny and the trendy. The city is a wonderland for design and architecture buffs; Tokyo’s streets sparkle with gems like the Prada store in the Aoyama neighborhood, designed by Herzog and de Meuron, which resembles a crystalline honeycomb and Toyo Ito’s concrete tree facade for the Tod’s flagship store in the neighborhood of Omotesando. These inspired retail structures are emblematic of the reverence between design and consumer culture that pervades Japan.
Cooktops
Stand alone cooktops are established facets of high-end kitchens and the preference of serious chefs. Separating the cooking surface from the oven gives the cooktop a dramatic space on either a kitchen island or centered on a counter bar and allows for “social cooking” whereby chefs and their admirers can gather round the fire and sample the delicacies, chat, and observe the cooking process. Versatility abounds in countertop cooking terrain. With options such as cutting-edge induction surfaces, nonstick surface griddles, and professional grill attachments, the current cooktops are fabulously functional and striking centerpieces for kitchen action.
Ranges
Espresso Makers
The espresso machine serves a very specific purpose – to deliver tiny impeccable cups of coffee with reliable efficiency. Given this industrious expectation, espresso machines have tended to focus more on function than design. But espresso machines are quickly becoming a staple of contemporary kitchens as fresh and inspired designs begin to shape the look and function of these compact caffeine vehicles first created a century ago by Milan engineer Luigi Bezzera. From the ponderous Miele built-in to Luca Trazzi’s whimsical candy-colored models, espresso makers are flexing their design muscle.
Whether it is perfect “crema,” the caramel-colored foam that appears on top of a shot of espresso during the brewing period, or evoking the design optimism of Italian futurism, each of these appliances has something to offer regardless of budget, from the ultimate in luxury to a modest starter set.
Babies Go Modern
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There is a baby boom going on in Miami. And the parents behind it are young, hip, and design-conscious. These parents, who are often patrons of this city’s burgeoning art and architecture revival, lean more towards mid-century modern rather than rococo lavishness. Declaring that it is never too early to introduce kids to good taste, Miami moms and dads are looking for appropriate pieces that fit seamlessly amongst Saarinen wombs chairs and Kreiss end tables. In an era when adults no longer see themselves as giving up their dedication to design and fashion simply because they have become parents, the renaissance in nursery design is markedly sophisticated and unfussy. Parents are not hiding the nursery anymore, but are embracing the baby bedroom as a design opportunity, a chance to experiment and take chances.
