Ocean Drive

What It Is

Ocean Drive runs along the Atlantic edge of South Beach, lined on one side by a dense row of 1930s Art Deco hotels and on the other by Lummus Park and the beach. Architects like Henry Hohauser and L. Murray Dixon gave the street its rhythm of streamlined facades, porthole windows, and rooftop finials, later amplified by the neon and pastel paint of the 1980s revival. Today it is a near-continuous run of cafes, hotels, and sidewalk tables — a tourist promenade that doubles as the world's most concentrated showcase of the style.

Why It Matters

Ocean Drive is the visual signature of Miami Beach and, by extension, of Miami itself. The street's survival was not inevitable — much of the Art Deco district was nearly demolished before preservationists, led in part by activist Barbara Capitman, fought to protect it. That fight produced the historic district that the South Beach renaissance of the 1990s would later monetize, drawing fashion shoots, film crews, and the celebrity crowd around Gianni Versace. More than any single building, Ocean Drive is the image the city exports to the world.

Neighborhoods: Miami Beach Eras: Recovery & Art Deco Related people: Henry Hohauser