If James Bond had an architect…

Enter Morris Lapidus

Remember that scene in Goldfinger (1964) when the villain of the title is cheating at cards by a hotel pool, and 007 is toying with him from a balcony above? That hotel is the Fontainebleau by architect Morris Lapidus, who is often accredited with the start of the flamboyant “Miami Baroque” or “Miami Tropicalism” style of the 1950’s.

Cue the John Barry theme for a little ear and eye candy:

If you haven’t heard of him, neither had I nor my architect husband. But I recently picked up a book on the architect from the Assouline Memoirs series, and was surprised to find so many gems — outrageously sexy lounges, over-the-top curvilinear pools and grand staircases, ultra-plush seating, dramatic canopies and atriums. Page after page of Tomorrowland-like spaces that hinted at luxury and glamour. Can you just imagine yourself jaunting around these fabulous Mad Men-esque spaces, donned in your designer resortwear, martini in hand?

The atrium in the Americana Hotel, Bal Harbour (1956) and the lobby of the Biltmore Terrace Hotel, Miami (1951)

The bar at the Americana Hotel, Bal Harbor (1956)

 

The lobby of the Eden Roc Hotel (1955)

The bar at the Eden Roc today

Postcard of the old Indies House lobby, Duck Key, Florida

The pool view at Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami (1954)

In a time when America was experiencing a post-war boom, he sought to break away from the more modest, unembellished Bauhaus style that was popular in the architecture world (and he was heavily criticized in that world for it), to produce works that allowed people to show off their newly-acquired wealth. Rat Pack and the like flocked to his resorts to revel in a the glamorous life. He once said of the popularity of his projects, “My whole success is I’ve always been designing for people, first because I wanted to sell them merchandise. Then when I got into hotels, I had to rethink, what am I selling now? You’re selling a good time.” Job well done, looks like a good time to me.

Frank Sinatra and Jill St. John in “Tony Rome” 1967

A home designed for his dentist in 1958

This is just a small sampling of Morris Lapidus’ profilic career that spanned five decades, and included designs for over 1200 residential, hospitality and retail projects around the world. He even lived long enough to help restore a few of his own works (how cool is that?), and pick up an American Original Award from the Cooper-Hewitt in 2000.

So now you can say you’ve heard of him, and I’m guessing you even like him. He’s pretty groovy, isn’t he?

…xoxo

Images via Morris Lapidus (Memoirs), Miami Modern Metropolis (Allan T. Shulman), New York Social Diary and The Wall Street Journal.

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