Virginia Key’s iconic structures, including the Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami Marine Stadium (its official name) are featured in the new AIA Guide, Miami Architecture (University of Florida Press, $29.95).
The guide imagines the area as a tropical playground - with the Marine Stadium as the centerpiece of a “necklace of public amenities” in the Biscayne Bay corridor.
The playground begins with the Rickenbacker Causeway itself -- in reality a linear park -- which was designed to include areas for fishing, bathing and boat launching along the way. Today, the scenic road is also a major attraction for bicyclists and pedestrians who enjoy the scenic views.
The Rickenbacker was designed by landscape architect WIlliam Lyman Phillips, the preeminent architect of the 1930s and 40s. Phillips’ commissions included some of our most beautiful parks and gardens, including Crandon and Virginia Key Beach Parks, Matheson Hammock, and Fairchild Tropical Garden.
Miami Seaquarium’s 1950s vintage look may strike some as quaint today, but when it was completed it was considered “a technological feat of marine architecture and showmanship,” according to the guidebook. The 55-acre site design is based on World’s Fair models before World War II, which is reinforced by the later addition of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic Golden Dome.
Other guidebook entries include the University of Miami Rosensteil School and NOAA Building, National Marine Fisheries Service Center.
Miami Architecture was co-written by Miami architect Allan T. Shulman, landscpae architect and planner Randall C. Robinson, Jr. , co-author of MiMo: Miami Modern Revealed and James F. Donnelly, former chair of the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board.
The precursor to the guide was the Miami Architecture Project, a community-based group that organized local forums on architecture and community revitalization.
There will be book signing and discussion beginning at 7:30 p.m., Thurs., June 10, 2010 at the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, 1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120804544604561&ref=mf
Resources:
University of Florida Press http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DONNES08
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