Discover the Magic of Miami

Architecture professor Marilys Nepomechie writes a comprehensive guide to Miami-Dade’s historic structures and neighborhoods

By Sissi Aguila ’99, MA ’08

Moorish arches and golden domes peak out behind 25-foot palm trees. Reminiscent of a magnificent palace in North Africa, the thick stucco structure, whimsically painted pink, white and yellow, is actually Opa- locka City Hall. Local commuters rush by every day never knowing the history behind the design of the government building. Tourists would never find it on their sightseeing maps.

In her new book, Building Paradise: An Architectural Guide to the Magic City, FIU professor Marilys Nepomechie is helping shed light on the architectural history of more than 700 principal buildings and landscapes in greater Miami, including Opa-locka City Hall.

“I know the city now in ways I didn’t know it before,” said Nepomechie, who spent nearly two years compiling the history and characteristics of contemporary structures, landmarks, neighborhoods, historic districts, beaches and parks throughout the county.

One of the most flamboyant buildings in Miami-Dade, Opa-locka City Hall, is the result of a predilection on the part of Miami Land Boom developers for constructing planned, themed cities. Coral Gables, designed in Mediterranean style, and Miami Springs, with buildings in the Pueblo Style, are among the best known of their creations.

Beginning in the 1920s, explained Nepomechie, real estate developers, intent on marketing an exotic tropical paradise, built a number of communities based on themes they thought would attract residents to a new, relatively remote location. “In some respects, Greater Miami was the original Disney World,” she said.

American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss developed Opa-locka in 1926 based on an Arabian Nights fantasy, inspired by Tales of the 1001 Nights. “The city is said to have the largest collection of Moorish Revival architecture in the Western Hemisphere,” said Nepomechie.

Opa-locka began as a segregated white settlement. With help from the GI Bill and civil rights activists, African-Americans began to move to the city after WWII. Today, the urban neighborhood is primarily home to African-American and Hispanic residents.

Organized by neighborhood, more than half of the handbook’s entries feature black-and-white photos by award-winning, local photographer Steven Brooke. Brooke is internationally recognized for his work with architecture, landscape and interiors.

Essays by local leaders introduce the guide and add perspective. FIU voices enlisted to help tell Miami’s story include Michael Maunder, former research scientist in the Department of Biology and past executive director of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables; Campbell McGrath, author of eight volumes of poetry and the Philip and Patricia Frost Professor of Creative Writing; and FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg.

In his piece, Rosenberg writes, “At FIU we have sought to create an architectural vocabulary that inspires and draws in prominent architects who have made their mark on Miami and throughout the world.”

Several FIU structures are featured in the guide, including Deuxieme Maison (DM), the university’s second building. Nepomechie tells us that DM was the first of the campus courtyard buildings. Its reliance on exterior circulation and open-air public space set the pattern for many of the academic buildings that followed.

FIU adjunct professor Daisy Alvarez directed the production of the guide, and FIU students Mauricio Gonzalez ’12, Andrew Santa Lucia ’11 and Reynolds Diaz ’11 helped Nepomechie with layout and created maps for Building Paradise. Ileana Rodriguez ’09, who has since graduated from FIU with a degree in architecture, helped with research.

McGrath contributed an original poem, “Another Beautiful Day in Miami,” initially written to commemorate the installation of Rosenberg as fifth president of FIU. He writes, “Come back, Henry Flagler and Julia Tuttle and Carl Fisher, come back all you builders and hucksters and immigrant believers. Come back to the intoxicatingly beautiful and complex metropolis you dreamed into being, because tomorrow is sure to be another beautiful day in Miami.”

Nepomechie, whose father, an architect, first practiced in Cuba, has been honored – along with collaborator and FIU landscape architecture professor Marta Canavés – with more than 30 design awards, national and international exhibitions, and wide publication.

Building Paradise was commissioned by the Miami Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The national organization hosted its annual convention in Miami in June. This was the first time the AIA had held its annual meeting in Miami since 1964. The guide published then barely surpassed 60 pages. Nepomechie’s book is one of only two architectural guides to Miami, and the more comprehensive in range. Both works were published this year.

“We wanted to look at the architecture of our young city from a different perspective,” said Nepomechie, who also included the cultural and natural landscapes of South Florida as essential complements to more than 100 years of building. “The scope of this book is unprecedented.”