If over-the-top tropical opulence is your taste, here's the backdrop of your dreams. The Villa Vizcaya is a Jazz Age melange of Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture, with formal gardens and a village of outbuildings.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens —
If over-the-top tropical opulence is your taste, here's the backdrop of your dreams. The Villa Vizcaya is a Jazz Age melange of Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture, with formal gardens and a village of outbuildings.
Bill Sumner
Lavishly decorated by its millionaire owner in the 1910s, it has been run as an art museum in Miami-Dade County since 1952. Only a 20-minute-drive from the beach, it's a must-see destination. (Bonus trivia: Pope John Paul II met with President Ronald Reagan and his wife here in 1987.)
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens —
Lavishly decorated by its millionaire owner in the 1910s, it has been run as an art museum in Miami-Dade County since 1952. Only a 20-minute-drive from the beach, it's a must-see destination. (Bonus trivia: Pope John Paul II met with President Ronald Reagan and his wife here in 1987.)
Bill Sumner/Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Of all the buildings that make up the Faena district in sleepy Mid-Beach -- including those by esteemed architects Norman Foster, Brandon Haw and Bill Sofield -- the most striking is this groundbreaking design by Pritzker Prize-winner Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).
Faena Forum —
Of all the buildings that make up the Faena district in sleepy Mid-Beach -- including those by esteemed architects Norman Foster, Brandon Haw and Bill Sofield -- the most striking is this groundbreaking design by Pritzker Prize-winner Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).
Courtesy Faena Forum
With nods to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Forum in Rome, the 50,000-square-foot building features an extraordinary series of large, flexible spaces for site-specific projects, installations, performances and events.
Faena Forum —
With nods to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Forum in Rome, the 50,000-square-foot building features an extraordinary series of large, flexible spaces for site-specific projects, installations, performances and events.
Courtesy Ivan Belaustegui
This gaudy Ocean Drive mansion, originally built by an heir to the Standard Oil fortune, would probably have disappeared into the annals of bad taste had Miami transplant Gianni Versace not bought it in 1993 for $2.9 million. After the sale, Versace spent $33 million in renovations.
The Villa Casa Casuarina —
This gaudy Ocean Drive mansion, originally built by an heir to the Standard Oil fortune, would probably have disappeared into the annals of bad taste had Miami transplant Gianni Versace not bought it in 1993 for $2.9 million. After the sale, Versace spent $33 million in renovations.
Courtesy Ken Hayden
The house -- which includes this "Million Mosaic Pool," featuring thousands of 24k gold tiles -- was at the center of the beau monde that orbited Versace until his untimely murder on its front steps in 1998. <br /><br />Now in its umpteenth incarnation as a boutique hotel, this popular tourist attraction and Instagram background will be further immortalized when it becomes the <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2016%2F10%2F18%2Fentertainment%2Famerican-crime-story-versace-season-3%2F">setting and subject</a> for season three of "American Crime Story."
The Villa Casa Casuarina —
The house -- which includes this "Million Mosaic Pool," featuring thousands of 24k gold tiles -- was at the center of the beau monde that orbited Versace until his untimely murder on its front steps in 1998.

Now in its umpteenth incarnation as a boutique hotel, this popular tourist attraction and Instagram background will be further immortalized when it becomes the setting and subject for season three of "American Crime Story."
Courtesy Ken Hayden
As the premier performing arts center in Florida and the second largest in the country, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is a modern, multi-theater venue that hosts the Miami City Ballet and the Miami Symphony Orchestra.
Adrienne Arsht Center —
As the premier performing arts center in Florida and the second largest in the country, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is a modern, multi-theater venue that hosts the Miami City Ballet and the Miami Symphony Orchestra.
Built a decade ago by César Pelli, the crystalline complex consists of two main buildings (an opera house and a concert hall) connected by a plaza with colonnades, cascading gardens and a paving design based on Afro-Caribbean motifs.
Adrienne Arsht Center —
Built a decade ago by César Pelli, the crystalline complex consists of two main buildings (an opera house and a concert hall) connected by a plaza with colonnades, cascading gardens and a paving design based on Afro-Caribbean motifs.
Courtesy Justin Namon
This Brutalist parking structure, known as "Eleven Eleven" or the Garage, has insinuated itself into the skyline and popular imagination. The handiwork of Herzog & de Meuron, this parking garage of peerless sophistication at once recalls Paul Rudolph's bunker-like constructions of the 1960s, and Morris Lapidus' languid take on modernism, which defined Miami in its post-war heyday. Eleven Eleven also kicked off the city's high design craze for commercial projects (and, not surprisingly, for newfangled garages.)
1111 Lincoln Road (aka The Garage) —
This Brutalist parking structure, known as "Eleven Eleven" or the Garage, has insinuated itself into the skyline and popular imagination. The handiwork of Herzog & de Meuron, this parking garage of peerless sophistication at once recalls Paul Rudolph's bunker-like constructions of the 1960s, and Morris Lapidus' languid take on modernism, which defined Miami in its post-war heyday. Eleven Eleven also kicked off the city's high design craze for commercial projects (and, not surprisingly, for newfangled garages.)
View Pictures/Universal Images Group Editorial/UIG via Getty Images
The striking New World Center is a collaboration between Frank Gehry and celebrated acoustic engineer Yasuhisa Toyota, who worked together on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The center's 7,000-square-foot exterior projection wall allows crowds gathered in the garden to see and hear filmed concerts free of charge.
New World Center —
The striking New World Center is a collaboration between Frank Gehry and celebrated acoustic engineer Yasuhisa Toyota, who worked together on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The center's 7,000-square-foot exterior projection wall allows crowds gathered in the garden to see and hear filmed concerts free of charge.
Courtesy Pascal Depuhl
The concert hall is one of the city's preeminent cultural institutions. Seating more than 750 in its dramatically banked auditorium, it is home to the New World Symphony, a renowned company of young musicians.
New World Center —
The concert hall is one of the city's preeminent cultural institutions. Seating more than 750 in its dramatically banked auditorium, it is home to the New World Symphony, a renowned company of young musicians.
Courtesy Rui Dias-Aidos
Built by Arquitectonica, one of Miami's most venerable local firms, and sprinkled with contemporary design fairy dust by Philippe Starck, this addition to the Brickell skyline reads from afar like one big Paul Smith shopping bag, with its look-at-me candy-striped facade.
SLS Brickell Hotel & Residences —
Built by Arquitectonica, one of Miami's most venerable local firms, and sprinkled with contemporary design fairy dust by Philippe Starck, this addition to the Brickell skyline reads from afar like one big Paul Smith shopping bag, with its look-at-me candy-striped facade.
Courtesy Moris Moreno/SLS Brickell/sbe
The building isn't weighed down by meaningless narrative. The sleek lines, quality finishings and reserved luxury speak for themselves.
SLS Brickell Hotel & Residences —
The building isn't weighed down by meaningless narrative. The sleek lines, quality finishings and reserved luxury speak for themselves.
Courtesy Moris Moreno/SLS Brickell/sbe
Opened in 1926 by George Merick, the Biltmore -- a Mediterranean Beaux-Arts-style playpen with dramatic groin-vaulted ceilings, Arabian-inflected tiling and a palm-adorned central courtyard -- was once the tallest building in Florida and boasted the world's biggest pool. It also played host to a surfeit of royalty, both the traditional variety and those crowned by Hollywood. (And if you believe in psychobabble, more than a few ghosts have checked in over the years too.)<br /><br />After falling into disrepair after a stint as a hospital, the Biltmore was restored to its former glory in the late '80s.
The Biltmore in Coral Gables —
Opened in 1926 by George Merick, the Biltmore -- a Mediterranean Beaux-Arts-style playpen with dramatic groin-vaulted ceilings, Arabian-inflected tiling and a palm-adorned central courtyard -- was once the tallest building in Florida and boasted the world's biggest pool. It also played host to a surfeit of royalty, both the traditional variety and those crowned by Hollywood. (And if you believe in psychobabble, more than a few ghosts have checked in over the years too.)

After falling into disrepair after a stint as a hospital, the Biltmore was restored to its former glory in the late '80s.
Courtesy The Biltmore
This four-winged Deco tower, originally designed by Robert Swartburg, has been the lodestar of luxury boutique hotels since it was acquired by Ian Schrager in the mid 1990s and revamped by French design star Philippe Starck.
The Delano —
This four-winged Deco tower, originally designed by Robert Swartburg, has been the lodestar of luxury boutique hotels since it was acquired by Ian Schrager in the mid 1990s and revamped by French design star Philippe Starck.
One of the last masterworks by Art Deco legend Lawrence Murray Dixon, the Raleigh remains the grande dame of Miami hotels. In 2014, the landmark property was bought by fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's real estate concern, Hilfiger Hospitality, and there are plans to turn it into a private member's club.
The Raleigh Hotel —
One of the last masterworks by Art Deco legend Lawrence Murray Dixon, the Raleigh remains the grande dame of Miami hotels. In 2014, the landmark property was bought by fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's real estate concern, Hilfiger Hospitality, and there are plans to turn it into a private member's club.
Courtesy The Raleigh/sbe
Rest assured: the Martini Bar, where the Rat Pack would gather for pre- and post-show drinks, and swimming pool, where Esther Williams filmed many of her famous aquatic scenes, are being faithfully preserved.
The Raleigh Hotel —
Rest assured: the Martini Bar, where the Rat Pack would gather for pre- and post-show drinks, and swimming pool, where Esther Williams filmed many of her famous aquatic scenes, are being faithfully preserved.
Courtesy The Raleigh/sbe
This curvilinear landmark in the Design District is home to the Institute of Contemporary Art. The original 1921 building is handsome, but the late Zaha Hadid's futuristic "Elastika" installation -- a lab-born confection that stretches across the building's four stories and 20,000 square feet of arcades -- is alone worth the trip.
The Moore Building —
This curvilinear landmark in the Design District is home to the Institute of Contemporary Art. The original 1921 building is handsome, but the late Zaha Hadid's futuristic "Elastika" installation -- a lab-born confection that stretches across the building's four stories and 20,000 square feet of arcades -- is alone worth the trip.
Courtesy Moore Building
Framed by hanging gardens (courtesy of French botanist Patrick Blanc) and inviting views from all sides, Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron's 200,000-square-foot boxy showstopper is a work of art in and of itself. Housed in an old Philip Johnson building, PAMM's massive pavilion houses a vast collection of local and international contemporary art owned by the redoubtable collector Jorge Peréz.
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) —
Framed by hanging gardens (courtesy of French botanist Patrick Blanc) and inviting views from all sides, Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron's 200,000-square-foot boxy showstopper is a work of art in and of itself. Housed in an old Philip Johnson building, PAMM's massive pavilion houses a vast collection of local and international contemporary art owned by the redoubtable collector Jorge Peréz.
Courtesy Daniel Azoulay
Today it stands as a 17-story monument to the city's thriving arts and culture scenes, but the former headquarters of the defunct Miami News also played a key part in the business boom of the 1920s, and was a hub for the processing of Cuban immigrants in the '60s. Built in 1925 in the Mediterranean revival style (all Corinthian columns, wrought-iron balconies and concrete cherubs), it is an undervalued jewel in the architectural crown of the city.
MDC Museum of Art + Design at the Freedom Tower —
Today it stands as a 17-story monument to the city's thriving arts and culture scenes, but the former headquarters of the defunct Miami News also played a key part in the business boom of the 1920s, and was a hub for the processing of Cuban immigrants in the '60s. Built in 1925 in the Mediterranean revival style (all Corinthian columns, wrought-iron balconies and concrete cherubs), it is an undervalued jewel in the architectural crown of the city.
Courtesy Freeedom Tower - MDC Museum of Art + Design
An exemplar of famed Miami architect Morris Lapidus' curvaceous Pan-American pastiche, the canonical Fontainebleau Miami Beach has been the template for luxury beach accommodation since it opened its doors in 1954. <br /><br />It is also notable for being a stomping ground for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and co. in the 1950s, and the setting for many movies, including "Goldfinger," "The Bodyguard" and "Scarface."
Fontainebleau Miami Beach —
An exemplar of famed Miami architect Morris Lapidus' curvaceous Pan-American pastiche, the canonical Fontainebleau Miami Beach has been the template for luxury beach accommodation since it opened its doors in 1954.

It is also notable for being a stomping ground for Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and co. in the 1950s, and the setting for many movies, including "Goldfinger," "The Bodyguard" and "Scarface."
Courtesy Fontainebleau Miami Beach
14 stunning Miami buildings you have to visit
CNN  — 

Miami architecture is not all one big Art Deco echo. Though the tropical idyll is synonymous with pastel-colored hotels on South Beach, and sprawling palm-lined manses on the city’s famed private islands, these days, the cityscape is as diverse as its residents.

Rarely a month goes by without an announcement of a new Herzog & de Meuron being built for future generations, or a new starchitect-led development promising to put the city firmly on the cultural map.

No one building defines Miami, but rest assured: this boom city, where things happen fast, is rapidly becoming the architecture capital of America.