Archinect - News

Miami's historic Deauville Beach Resort is demolished as a Frank Gehry-designed replacement fails to start

2022-11-15T18:15:00-05:00

The 17-story tower of the historic Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach was successfully imploded just after 8 a.m. Sunday. The oceanfront building at 6701 Collins Ave. crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds after a series of thundering booms, marking the end of the road for a hotel that famously hosted the Beatles in 1964 and fell into disrepair in recent years.

The demolition brought to a close a tumultuous saga that saw local preservationists and the city government sue its owner Alex Meruelo over what they said was a wanton disregard for local heritage standards and other code violations more or less continuously issued since an electrical fire seriously damaged the Melvin Grossman-designed MiMo-style structure in July of 2017.

Previously on Archinect: Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

Taking its place might be Frank Gehry’s proposed Equinox Towers scheme that is still awaiting approval before construction can begin on what has been labeled as a “passion project” for megadeveloper and Miami Beach native Stephen Ross. The plan was rejected by voters last week, leaving a void likely to be filled with a similar condominium design needed as a stopgap to the expected exodus brought about by the onset of new Surfside-inspired safety laws.

Today we lost the North Beach landmark Deauville Hotel due ...

Some of NYC’s biggest high-rollers want a casino in Coney Island, but local residents aren’t buying in

2022-08-04T10:00:00-04:00

If real estate developers get their way, Coney Island may soon be losing its seasonal vibe. The New York Post is reporting that several of the city's leading corporate entities, including Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross' Related Companies, Vornado, and S.L. Green, have expressed interest in two of the state's three new available casino licenses as part of an expansion endorsed by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Looking to Atlantic City as a model, Thor Equities owner Joe Sitt is pitching a gaming destination in his native Coney Island as a potential commercial booster. Hudson Yards, Times Square, and Queens’ Willets Point neighborhood have also been floated. In total, the projects could bring in at least $1.5 billion in license revenue for the state. The year-round operation of the casinos could engender even greater profits dependent on an agreed-upon tax rate between the state and potential developers.

Other than money, the subway system seems to be the main determining factor in the m...

Frank Gehry's Equinox Towers scheme is one step closer to reality in Miami Beach

2022-07-22T13:08:00-04:00

A Gehry Partners proposal to redevelop Miami’s historic Deauville Beach Resort into a luxury hotel and condominium dubbed Equinox Towers is gaining traction after officials there agreed to move the plan to public vote on Wednesday.

The firm’s initial concept model of the project revealed to the Miami Beach City Commission during the hearing indicated a 125-unit condo design to stand beside a taller sculptural hotel with 175 rooms, potentially bringing another big-name architectural design to an undiscovered portion of the city’s gilded 35-mile-long coast.

The architect is developing the newly-named plan alongside Related Companies CEO and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who told the Miami Herald the idea of having a second Gehry project in the neighborhood where he grew up “held a special place in his heart,” adding that it will “rebuild and lift a whole community.”

The Deauville Beach Resort as it appeared in 2016. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user VM (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There h...

"Probably the most creative person in the world" — The New Yorker profiles Thomas Heatherwick

2018-02-19T15:02:00-05:00

Heatherwick Studio employs architects, but Heatherwick is not an architect. His work could be described as a celebration of never having absorbed, in a formal architectural education, dogma about designing things to be flush and taut. “There’s a Harry Potter-esque, Victorian quirkiness in the work,” Ingels said. “An element of steampunk, almost.”

In his long read for The New Yorker, Ian Parker tells the story of New York's (potential) new Eiffel Tower, the Vessel at Hudson Yards, and profiles the British designer behind this and many other ambitious structures, Thomas Heatherwick.