Morris Lapidus: The Laboratory of Light & Form

Route: The DiLido (Ritz-Carlton) Waterfront to Lincoln Road

Description: Join Deborah Desilets for an immersive walking tour that explores Miami Beach not merely as a collection of hotels, but as Morris Lapidus’s "Laboratory for Design"—a living ecosystem where architecture breaks out of the box to dance with the rhythms of the Atlantic.

The Waterfront & The Shadows We begin at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean behind the DiLido (The Ritz-Carlton South Beach), standing on the historic footprint of "The Shadows," the home of pioneer Carl Fisher. Here, where land meets sea, we set the stage for how Lapidus began to morph rigid architecture into organic forms. We will discuss how, by the time the DiLido was built—the final stroke before the Fontainebleau—Lapidus had evolved his "store design tricks" into an emergent vocabulary of architectural form.

The Boardwalk: Ripples, Angles, and Ecosystems Walking the boardwalk past the Shelborne, the Nautilus, and back to the DiLido, we will experience the architecture physically, not just visually. We will observe how the angle of the DiLido—originally influenced by Polevitzky’s Town and Country—was reinterpreted by Lapidus to set a new tone. You will see how the facades act as "timepieces," angled boxes of sunlight that capture the rotation of the earth, designed intentionally so that light and wind collide to create a perpetual, cooling breeze on the site. This is architecture as an interface with the elements.

Interiors & The "In Progress" Emergence The tour moves inside for a rare look at the Ritz-Carlton (DiLido) interiors, tracing the "ripples" in the building language. From there, we proceed to the 100-300 blocks of Lincoln Road to witness a space "in progress," emerging from chaos into order.

Film & Philosophy: Feelings Find Form We conclude with a viewing of cinematic works that bridge past and future, including the film Fingerprints to the Moon, created by Deborah Desilets for the Orb of Harmony at the Sagamore (BitBasel). We will examine the Orb as a magnetic force where organic architecture meets the organic forms of the artist Kef!, creating a definitive example of "Feelings Find Form."

A Gift for Guests: Attendees will receive a copy of the article "Drawn to the Light," a piece that illuminates the connected legacies of Carl Fisher, Morris Lapidus, and Evan Frankel.

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Host or Publisher The Miami Center for Architecture & Design