Designed in 1936 by Yugoslavian architect Anton Skiskewicz, the Breakwater Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach remains one of Miami's most iconic Art Deco buildings. (Photo from Miami Design Preservation League)
The 16th World Congress on Art Deco is coming to Miami and Miami Beach.
Entitled "Modernism: Florida's Hidden Treasures," the congress begins in Orlando on April 18 then heads to South Florida for the main event from Thursday, April 20 to Thursday, April 27. It winds up in Palm Beach County.
Included on the itinerary of the 16th World Congress on Art Deco will be a walking tour through the Flamingo Park historic Art Deco district in Miami Beach. (Photo from Miami Design Preservation League)
In 1989, Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) founder Barbara Baer Capitman created the concept for the World Congress on Art Deco, conducting an organizing symposium in January 1990 to insure the inauguration and launch of a series of these congresses.
She died before she could see the World Congress realized. MDPL hosted the first World Congress on Art Deco in Miami Beach Florida in January 1991 during its annual Art Deco Weekend.
There was no other place that was more appropriate since Miami Beach was the first area in the world to recognize and take steps to protect a 20th historic district with Art Deco as the hallmark style, according to the Miami Design Preservation League.
The now bi-annual event explores, via a series of guided tours, the early 20th Century architectural heritage and richness of the Art Deco style in host cities, while also presenting lectures and exhibits by world authorities on the period.
The congress is returning this year to where it started, Miami Beach, but it has now expanded to be a worldwide event.
Lectures during the World Congress will be on site at the Jewish Museum-FIU. The main museum building, at 301 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, was built in 1936, is on the National Register of Historic Places and has many Art Deco features. (Photo from Miami Design Preservation League)
Congresses were held in Miami Beach in 1991 and 1992, but in 1993 it became a biennial event held in various locations:
- 1993: Perth, Western Australia
- 1995: London and Brighton, England
- 1997: Los Angeles
- 1999: Napier, New Zealand
- 2001: Tulsa, Oklahoma
- 2003: Cape Town, South Africa
- 2005: New York
- 2007: Melbourne, Australia
- 2009: Montreal, Canada
- 2011: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2013: Havana, Cuba
- 2015: Shanghai, China
- 2017: Cleveland, Ohio
This year's World Congress is one of great anticipation since, in 2021, the event in Singapore was canceled due to COVID-19. In 2025, the World Congress is set to take place in Paris.
Tours of Casa Casuarina, built in 1930 by Alden Freeman and bought by fashion designer Gianni Versace in 1992, are part of the World Congress on Art Deco. (Photo from Miami Design Preservation League)
Events planned for Miami and Miami Beach include:
Tours of the Collins Avenue/Collins Park Historic District, the Lapidus Historic District, Lincoln Road, Flamingo Park History District Walking Tour, Single Family Homes tour and an LGBTQ-themed tour, and visits to Casa Casuarina, built in 1930 by Alden Freeman and bought by fashion designer Gianni Versace in 1992, are part of the World Congress on Art Deco.
A detail of The Wolfsonian-FIU, located in the heart of the Art Deco District of Miami Beach, one of the featured excursions during the 16th World Congress on Art Deco, coming to Miami and Miami Beach from Thursday, April 20 to Thursday, April 27. (Photo courtesy of Miami Design Preservation League)
There is a full slate planned for attendees, including a variety of lectures at the historic Jewish Museum-FIU at 301 Washington Ave. Day passes are available for the lectures and also a complete lecture series pass.
Barbara Baer Capitman's son, will speak on Saturday, April 22, about his mother and "the early years of Art Deco preservation."
A panel that same day will address strategies for creating and sustaining Art Deco societies plus discussion on Art Deco across the globe are the topics of talks including "Garcia Cabrera and Havana Deco," presented by Pepe Menendez, "The Art of the Neighborhoods of Buenos Aires" by Adriana Elvira Piastrellini, Atul Kumar speaking on "Swastik Court: Lessons from the Repair and Restoration of an Art Deco building in Mumbai," and talks about Deco in Chicago, San Francisco, and plenty of discussion on Miami and Miami Beach's art deco architects.
Click here to see the full itinerary and, for local residents, a lecture pass gives access to all World Congress lectures.
More information on the World Congress on Art Deco can be found here.
