The Miami Palace Hotel : [an honors thesis (HONRS 499)]

Abstract

Living in Miami was the perfect opportunity to explore the freedoms and limitations of a city through architecture. The rich past needed to be respected and represented, but not copied. The present could be reflected through design, but not wholly embraced; Miami is complex. The future is unknown but inevitable, so the design aimed to achieve a sense of timelessness to age and grow with the city.Designing a hotel was ideal to the place whose beauty and peace attracts worldly travelers year round. With a program including ballrooms and convention centers, the hotel could also contribute to the local culture. Miami's South Beach is home to some of the world's most renowned hotels such as architect Morris Lapidus's Eden Rock & Fontainebleau Hotels, the Shore Club, the Delano, and countless others. Each exuded a distinct aura of peacefulness, extravagance, and exclusive style. The Miami Palace Hotel must do the same in order to achieve a level of enticement that would be comparable to the context.