<center>Art Deco as a design style emerged between 1923 and 1943 when a number of Miami architects were determined to break with Miami's Spanish/Mediterranean architecture.
In the 1920's the land boom was in full swing, mammoth hotels sprung up along the island. The first buildings were completed during prohibition, and South Beach became associated with liquor and gambling and attracted the likes of Al Capone. Well into the 1960s, the city was the No. 1 U.S. tourist destination.
However, by 1980, South Beach - the section of town below 23rd Street - was a ghost town with the lowest per capita income in Florida. The district had become a slum and a center for drug traffic. At that time, a group of designers and architects managed to have declared South Beach a Historical District and set about restoring it.
My first two visits to Miami were in 1976 and 1978 when we stayed in central Miami Beach. When I re-visited Miami in 1993, wow - what a difference! Miami Beach had transformed from one of the oldest and dullest cities in America to one of the youngest and hippest. And it all happened because of Art Deco architecture.
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