The Making of Miami Beach 1933-1942 : The Architecture of Lawrence Murray Dixon

Rating:
Summary: Something for the architectural historian
Review: The amount of material available about the architects of South Beach has been very limited. Though two in particular, Henry Hohauser and L. Murray Dixon, designed approximately 70% of all of the buildings within the Miami Beach Art Deco District we know very little about them.

This book clears the air a bit about Dixon but we are still much in the dark about the details of his life. In fairness we do get some pieces of the puzzle such as how he spent time in New York with Schultze & Weaver and how he trained in the various architectural studios (similar to the ateliers of Paris) in the big city.

Issued in conjunction with an exhibition in 2000 at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach this book chronicles the architectural works of L. Murray Dixon. It casts a wide net in order to place Dixon's work within the fabric of architectural, urban, and cultural histories. The text by Lejeune and Shulman does a wonderful job of connecting the simultaneous threads of Miami Beach urban growth, the popular culture that drove much of the architecture on Miami Beach, and the influence of the major world architectural theories on the Miami Beach architects. Beautifully illustrated with a plethora of photos, original Dixon plans, and a number of his architectural renderings we get a much clearer picture of Dixon's work and the development of Miami Beach. The photos of the lost Atlantis Hotel are worth the price alone.

Now if someone could only do this for Henry Hohauser.