JPR’S DESIGN BRIEF WAS TO CREATE a new family home on the site of a traditional Victorian terrace house. The challenge was to construct a building that displayed the hallmarks of contemporary design while fitting in quietly with the rest of the streetscape.

The house is located in a historic McMahons Point street classed as a conservation zone. This zoning called for a design that was sympathetic with the surrounding buildings, hut the architects were determined to retain a contemporary feel. To satisfy the clients’ needs, it also had to have room for four bedrooms, a workshop, an artist’s studio, and parking for eight cars (to provide for adjacent buildings as well).

The resulting house borrows from the basic design of its older neighbours, taking the form of a verandah-fronted, pitched roof, gable-ended terrace house, From the street, the house sits comfortably beside a Victorian terrace, with the same dimensions, angles and basic features. But it’s the details that set it apart. The roof, although aligning perfectly with its neighbour, is free from Victorian ornamentation, while the solid steel balustrades and verandah supports offer a clean, contemporary alternative to the 19th century’s intricate lacework.

Externally, the house employs traditional construction techniques, with timber frames and cement-washed, painted brick cladding. The roof is corrugated zincalume.

Inside, the house diverges from the conventional Victorian style by juxtaposing formally arranged rooms with open plan living areas. On the ground floor, an informal arrangement allows the large living and dining rooms to flow into the kitchen, casual dining and family rooms at the back. Generous retractable doors open onto the rear courtyard, garden and pool area, providing a large, open entertaining area that blurs the lines between interior and exterior living.

The first floor accommodates bedrooms, bathrooms, the study and artist’s studio, arranged more formally to give a sense of private space. But even here JPR have broken with tradition, creating a suspended bridge that extends through a central void and links the bedrooms with the studio. The bedrooms continue the indoor/outdoor theme, opening onto glass-roofed verandahs. The master suite is located in the second floor loft, and has expansive views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and city skyline.

Considering all the features that are packed into it, the house maintains a wonderfully open, light-infused interior. This is partly achieved by the large atriums extending through the ground and first floors. These spaces also act as ventilation stacks: when the loft windows and basement door are opened in summer, air is drawn over the cool basement surfaces into the interior. In winter, external blinds can be opened to let in eastern and western sun, and the heated air rises through the atriums.

Light is also admitted through the tall, semi-circular glass brick windows that stretch through two storeys on both sides of the entry atrium, White walls interspersed with splashes of colour and offset by warm wood finishes amplify the brightness of the interior, and complement the original artworks that are hung throughout the house.

The naturally ventilated basement is accessed via a ramp from the street and houses the workshop and garage. Due to the previous consolidation of three sites the basement has to provide additional parking for the adjacent terrace and a commercial office. Efficient use of space is made by employing a vehicle turntable and car stackers.

These and the other modern solutions created by JPR leave no doubt that this is a wholly contemporary house. It proves that fitting in with existing structures doesn’t have to result in compromise, and that history, far from being a restrictive force, is something that is continually created.

SEVEN HUNDRED KILOMETRES southeast of Perth, lapped by the rolling sands of the Nullarbor Plain on one side and the Southern Ocean on the other, Esperance is remote indeed from the urban centres usually associated with cutting-edge architecture. But among the brick motels and old holiday beach shacks, Troppo Architects have left their mark with one of their most recent residential projects.

With offices in Darwin, Townsville, Perth and Adelaide, Troppo have gained international recognition as the designers of a ‘regional’ architecture associated with Australia’s north and west. Their award-winning designs work with the particular climates of these areas, emphasising natural lighting and ventilation, heat reduction and protection from the elements. The house at Esperance fits into this philosophy with its open spaces and protective coverings. Its pitched roof and corrugated verandahs also have connotations of the Australian shed tradition, a familiar reference point in Troppo designs.

The house was designed as a combination residence and office for the managers of the adjacent holiday apartments (also by Troppo). It needed to complement the existing apartments, while at the same time retaining a separate identity as a private residence.

The moderate climate of the region allowed for an open structure which could be shut down during inclement weather and opened up during finer weather. However, the seaside site was also exposed to strong winds, so the house had to have protective qualities as well.

The house was constructed from lightweight materials to fit in with the informal holiday atmosphere of the town. Steel construction with pine infill has allowed the frame to be kept as light as possible, while galvanising and bolted connections ensure that it is protected from the corrosive effects of the sea air. Inside the house, the steel frame is painted black and exposed in places, reinforcing the delicate nature of the structure.

Despite the lightness of its frame, the house is sturdy enough to withstand the ocean winds. Durable Shadowclad was selected for the exterior walls and painted light grey to complement the bright blues of the adjacent apartments. In keeping with the seaside tone, the colour was inspired by the hues of fading seaweed.

The building’s design and orientation has provided for alternative outdoor living areas depending on prevailing conditions. The open deck to the north is protected from winter winds, while solar access is gained through an open slatted pergola. The front verandah allows opportunity to open up the living area to the outside during calmer, warmer conditions.

The house has been constructed as two double-storey pavilions linked by a transparent zone incorporating the stairs. The front pavilion contains the living areas, with a separate flat to accommodate visitors in the lower level. It faces the sea and provides fantastic views of Esperance Bay. The rear pavilion contains bedrooms and bathrooms in the upper level and the carport, laundry and store below.

The main living areas on the upper level are contained within a long, open plan room. It has windows at each end to let a cooling breeze flow through, and opens onto a covered deck.

This commitment to using natural resources is typical of Troppo’s philosophy. Successfully working within specific climates, they continue to produce buildings which are both highly practical and uniquely beautiful.

THE HILLTOP SITE NEAR SEYMOUR in central Victoria seemed like the perfect place for a country holiday house. ON one side the land sloped gently towards the river through a stand of red gum trees while, on the other farmland rolled away to the east. Magnificent views and open countryside gave a feeling of peace and isolation.

However, the same qualities that made the site so appealing also left it open to the harsh effects of the elements, including wind and extremes of temperature. Swaney Draper Architects had to find a way of capturing nature’s bounty while minirnising its more unpleasant characteristics.

Because of the extreme seasons that can occur in this part of Victoria, special consideration had to he given to the siting and orientation of the house. It has been positioned to one side of the hilltop, and its graded form follows the slope of the site, with a single pitch roof slanting down from rear to front. The rear of the section has been cut into the hillside, allowing the house to nestle closely against it.

The house has been oriented for maximum passive thermal performance, with large windows to enhance this effect. In winter, the central fireplace can be supplemented by gas ducted heating. The house is not mechanically cooled, relying on natural ventilation and sunshades to get through the hot dry summer Inside, the main focus of the house is a large, tall central room, where all of the family activities take place. It is surrounded by windows on three sides, with timber shades framing views of the red gum trees and river beyond. A massive fireplace in the middle of this room provides both a real and symbolic focus for the family living areas. It’s a space that can be intimate or expansive: you can imagine pulling up a chair close to the fire on a wintry afternoon, or throwing open the doors to the deck on a summer evening.

To the rear of this central space, the rest of the house is contained in a two storey block. The kitchen, laundry and garage are on the lower level, while the upper level bedrooms and bathrooms open onto a gallery which overlooks the living room.

Externally, the unhurried holiday lifestyle is reflected in an uncomplicated structure. Lightweight timber and steel framing have been used to create simple lines that eschew ornamentation. Surfaces are either glazed or clad in cedar with monochrome paint.

This is a house to escape to. Its quiet, spacious interiors are welcoming and restful, while the wide open space that surrounds the building beckons you outside to take in the restorative country air. The laid back lifestyle that it provides is the perfect antidote to the pace of city living.

ISING UP FROM A TREE-LINED SLOPE, Max Pritchard’s compact tower seems perfectly at home in the bush. Its simple, unobtrusive shape, natural timber features and muted colourings allow it to blend in with its surroundings, while still standing out as a fine example of elegant, original residential architecture.

Max has been working in Adelaide for fifteen years. When he first started, the local residential design scene was rather quiet — but gradually that has started to change. He believes the region is slowly becoming more conscious of good design, with more original work starting to appear. Having won an Award of Merit in the residential category, Max’s own project has his peers’ approval as a prime example of this exciting new wave of Adelaide architecture.

Max designed the house as a tower to minimise its impact on the land and reflect the form of the neighbouring tall trees. It is built around a six metre square plan, rising through three levels. Balconies, stair landings and cupboards project from the otherwise flat sides of the house, and are clad in plywood and corrugated iron to mirror the colours and textures of the bush. Max believes that what gives the house its uniqueness is its lightweight construction — even though it’s three storeys high, it appears “light and delicate among the trees”.

Because of the large number of trees, the house required a roof without gutters that could become blocked with leaves. Max designed a square roof that dips down in the middle to form a valley that conducts rain water to an adjacent tank.

The slope of the site allows access by bridge to the middle level of the house, which contains the main living area. This is a large open plan space containing the kitchen, dining and living rooms, and providing excellent views of the bush and distant hills. Most of the middle level is in fact two-storeys high, an innovation made possible by cleverly designing the top floor as a mezzanine. This upper level contains the main bedroom and ensuite, while two more bedrooms and a bathroom are housed in the lower level.

The climate in the hills is cooler than in urban Adelaide, so the house needed to be exposed to as much winter sunlight as possible. This has been achieved by placing the living areas in the upper levels of the house and lining them with banks of north-facing windows. Electrical heating provides further warmth in winter. There is no air-conditioning, but the house is naturally ventilated, with the tower form allowing hot air to escape by convection during summer.

The interior of the house continues the natural theme of the exterior, with timber used extensively in floorboards, window frames, stairs and benchtops. Vibrant blue and yellow feature walls enhance the natural brightness of the living spaces, while curved elements contrast with the square form of the building and give a soft edge to the rooms.

This is a house that achieves many things: it is elegantly constructed, yet practical; contemporary and original, but also highly inhabitable; striking in its design, yet considerate of its environment. Its recognition in the RAIA state awards shows that the house is a welcome addition to the growing body of South Australian residential architecture.

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A TIGHT SITE AND SEMI-INDUSTRIAL environment contained many clues and some constraints for this new house and studio, which received an Award of Merit in this year’s Victorian Chapter RAIA Awards. Wood / Marsh looked to the large blank faces of Richmond’s warehouses when considering the street presence. Yet, although the facade is decidedly urban, decidedly non-domestic, the aspect the house/studio presents to the street is an enriched one. The blank wall is faced with split-face blockwork in three shades: off-white, pewter and bluestone. Each material occupies a particular plane, rendering the pattern as a thick, three-dimensional surface. The apparently random texture is punctuated by steel window frames, slicing through this dense surface and projecting beyond.

The complexity of this decorated surface might allude to the elaborate ironwork of small Victorian cottages (the building’s other neighbours), or to Melbourne’s polychrome brick history, but it is also reminiscent of Wood / Marsh’s rather more monumental concrete work on the Eastern Freeway. Like those walls, the textured front of the Curtis house involves perceptual tricks. Where the patterning of the freeway harriers appears to shift and change as one drives past at speed, this smaller wall in a dense urban setting plays vertical games. The block and opening patterns increase in scale as they move up the building, confounding the sense of height and perspective from the narrow street. The patterning, however, was generated from a rather more domestic source — the chunky knit of a Missoni swearer.

The confined site led to a strongly internalised cubic volume encased by apparently massive walls. The internal effect of solidity and depth is enhanced by interior blockwork and deep window reveals. The steel window frames jut into the interior, presenting the overtly framed views as additional pieces of realist art.

The “textured cube” is also pierced vertically, bringing light deep into the enclosed volume. Dappled light from the green perforated stair permeates the centre, while an internal courtyard pulls air and light into the rear, creating a second visual link through the depth of the building.

The stair acts as a major ordering element within the simple and direct plan organisation. Darker, lower level spaces are occupied by garaging, storage and a photographic darkroom, studio and office. Bedrooms are located in the middle, while the upper, lighter floor accommodates the kitchen and living spaces. The kitchen opens out to a wide timber deck with rooftop views, providing a release from the otherwise insistent interiority.

These straightforward, robust spaces and surfaces are enlivened by a wonderful collection of visual art and furniture from the 60s and 70s. These aesthetics have subtly affected the architecture. Indeed, the furnishing of tough architectural surfaces with rich interior objects is itself a characteristic of 60s domestic Brutalism. Other references appear in quotation marks. For example, level changes in the living area create a version of the 70s conversation pit — but the white shagpile is confined to a carefully centred rug.

Between Richmond’s industrial environment and the clients’ collection of Twentieth Century visual culture, Wood / Marsh have inserted a rugged cube. The skillful interpretation of these very particular circumstances has resulted in an inventive urban house.

It took the combined skills of an architect, an engineer, a surveyon geotechnical firm and an irrigation consultant to prepare this site, by Brisbane’s Moreton Bay. But the end result was well worth the difficulties - an impressive mansion designed by architect John Price.

LOOKING AT THIS SOLID AND STATELY house today, it is difficult to imagine the worries and setbacks that beset its construction. Essentially, it was a fight against the elements: record-breaking heavy rainfall during the construction period added to already difficult soil and drainage conditions.

The site is on reclaimed land on the once-swampy edge of Queensland’s Moreton Bay. The ground is a highly toxic, reactive clay which required a sophisticated drainage system and the carefully considered placement of buildings. At ground level an out-of-ground monolithic concrete slab is anchored to the site via an interconnected grid of substantial footings. All the stormwater and surface run-off feeds into five 25,000 litre in-ground water tanks, which in turn form the basis of a comprehensive irrigation system.

The clients asked architect John Price to design a two storey family dwelling, combining classical and Mediterranean styles. Their main requirement was that the focus be on entertaining, with an interconnected network of outdoor living spaces and a separate guest accommodation wing. The clients had also lived in Indonesia for some years, an influence which is discernable in the overall character of the house and its grounds — especially in external details such as the pillars, the wide pagoda-style eaves and pavilions, and the carved timber outdoor furnishings. Inside, timber furniture and oriental-style rugs and accessories create a similar effect, with glittering chandeliers and lofty ceilings lending a sense of old world opulence.

As the site is rather exposed — especially where it backs on to the water — John has placed the main residence at the front, surrounding it with landscaped gardens which will offer good shelter once the trees are established. He has used architectural elements to provide additional weather protection: a series of screen walls, covered walkways and open pavilions links the main house to the guest pavilion and beyond to the pool and boat shed.

The key living and entertaining areas are on the lower level of the main house. These formal and casual spaces enjoy a northern orientation to the front of the property, and a close connection with walled gardens and outdoor dining areas to the south-facing rear of the site. The heart of the entertaining zone is the ‘kermesse’, a formal dining pavilion — open on three sides — which features in Indonesian architecture. This area, marked off by sturdy pillars, connects directly with the pool via a straight path.

The impressive front entrance is sheltered by a large portecochere, the roof of which is tiled to echo the style of the house itself. Flanking this structure, a colonnaded walkway leads, on one side, to the garage and, on the other side, to the glass doors leading through to the bar/billiards area and the study.

This house has been designed to cope with the tropics, as well as the difficult site conditions. The cavity walls feature their own insulating layer of air, sandwiched between the inner and outer skins of brickwork. The second-storey bedroom wing rests on a suspended concrete slab, and the roof frames are trussed with integral extension pieces to support the deep roof overhangs. These wide eaves provide solar, as well as weather, protection. Openings to the east and west have been kept to a minimum, and wool insulation in the ceilings helps keep all the rooms cool.

Now that the house is finished and the clients have moved in (the house-warming party was legendary), memories of those site problems are rapidly fading. The family is now able to enjoy their spacious, secure and comfortable retreat.

Designed around a central core - a nine metric high atrium and stair - this compact dwelling achieves a lot on a very small site squeezed in between victorian cottages up a laneway in melbourne’s albert park, the box-like building reveals dynamic internal spaces and fascinating juxtapositions of materials over three levels.

THE ATRIUM AND STAIR FORMING THE CORE of the building have been designed to provide the main visual focus and also so serve as a spatial demarcation between the two upstairs living zones. The moment one steps into the downstairs entrance foyer, the atrium reveals itself to be a dynamic structural element which sets the pace for the rest of the house.

Architect Ian Browne collaborated with client Tom Ormonde to design a dwelling that would play out energetic rhythms of colour, texture, light and space over three levels. Tom initially drew his own rough floor plan, incorporating the bedrooms and bathroom downstairs, open living on the first level and a terrace up on the roof, positioned to take full advantage of sweeping city skyline views. Ian broadly adhered to this concept, and set about designing the house in detail.

While Tom had initially envisaged the stair section as a square, Ian proposed a far more dramatic and angular resolution — a wedge, capped by a raked glass roof, driven boldly between the building’s two wings — which the client accepted with enthusiasm. It meant sacrificing some floor space, but the resulting sense of drama and space was deemed well worth it. In view of the secluded laneway location, the local council had agreed to relax some of the restrictions pertaining to this heritage conservation precinct — an invitation to creativity neither the client nor architect could resist.

With its raw cement-rendered walls, steel construction and steel mesh landings, the stair has been designed to convey an industrial feel. Downstairs, a polished concrete floor — ground hack to create a speckled black and white terrazzo effect — and stainless steel bathroom surfaces continue the industrial theme. This mood evolves into a warmer, more homely environment on the upper floor where bagged brick off-white walls, timber floors, and Victorian ash veneer cabinets combine with contemporary furnishings to create two distinct living areas.

The external finishes assert the building’s status as a local landmark, rising above a cluster of century-old weather board cottages, rear fences and sheds. The combination of raw cement render, bagged brickwork painted off-white, and anodised aluminium cladding is repeated inside, where most of the internal wails have been matched identically to their corresponding exterior wall. The front entrance is emblematic of the building’s dialectic between edgy industrialism and a relaxed Japanese-inspired aesthetic: here, a brushed aluminium door contrasts with the fish pond lapping gently at the edge of the door, flanked by a bridge of timber slats. The presence of water sets the scene for the Zen-like calm which pervades the entire house.

The two faces of this inner sydney dwelling are divided by one metre and one century. Victorian lacework to the right, funky hardwood battens and corrugated steel to the left. And behind it all? relaxed contemporary living orchestrated by Lahz Nimmo architects.
IN ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION THIS VICTORIAN terrace had sound front rooms, with unremarkable rear add-ons and a cluster of sheds at the side. The sheds and add-ons were demolished, leaving architects Annabel Lahz and Andrew Nimmo an unusually generous amount of free space in which to transform the dwelling.
Usually, old terraces sit cheek-by-jowl with their identical neighbours. But in this case, the removed sheds left valuable metres on the southern side — and the client responded positively to the architects’ ideas for expanding sideways. The front entrance, still in the original terrace, now leads into a hallway with the original rooms to the right, retained as living rooms on the ground floor and bedrooms upstairs, and the new section to the left.
Standing at the foot of the new stair, the dividing line becomes apparent. The wall to the right of the stair is actually the exterior wall of the original dwelling, painted greyish blue and now a feature in its own right. The stairway itself forms a spine, either side of which the new and old are anchored. It is also a light well: clerestory windows, in the north wall under the skillion roof to the extension, cast light back into the new upper story studio and down the stairs into the kitchen and living area. The bathroom, clad externally in aluminium sheeting, straddles the old and new halves of the building at the top of the stairs.
In the extension — about as far away from the darkened interior of the Victorian era as one can get — the kitchen elements are set flush against the south wall. This leaves plenty of open space for furniture and traffic flow: this is a zone designed as much for passing through as living in. Front and back, the outdoors is embraced via sliding glass doors inside steel-framed timber-clad vertical lift doors. Facing the street, a masonry wall creates a private courtyard and presents an anonymous facade to the street, while at the rear the doors open out to a raised timber deck.
On the upper level, the studio is similarly an essay in light and colour with windows opening at either end, and vertical timber columns creating a series of internal openings parallel with the stair. The light from the clerestory windows illuminates the yellow feature walls opposite.
Both upstairs and downstairs, the front and rear windows are protected by screens of timber battens, softening the intense light coming from the east and west, and providing privacy facing the street.
At the rear, the removal of existing additions left space enough for an enclosed outdoor area designed by landscape architect Kristen Martin. Square pavers form a path to the shed and workspace (the client is a designer and has had this space fitted out with three data outlets and three-phase power) and the rest is predominantly a ground cover of white pebbles softened by bamboo, moss and lilly pillies.
Behind its chalk-and-cheese exterior, this dwelling is all about harmony — between indoors and outdoors, and within living zones. It’s also about creating a liveable environment in a built-up urban area, hidden from the outside world — yet in constant contact with it.

Take a break from winter’s chill: this month’s 110-mile Historic Highways route runs from north to south along Florida’s east coast. We begin in the resort community of Palm Beach, then visit Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Fort Lauderdale, once a haven for college students on spring break, and now a yachting center. We continue to Miami Beach, Miami, Key Biscayne, and end in Coral Gables. Dubbed the "Gold Coast," this region was established as a winter playground in the 1920s. Today, the Florida cities attract sun-worshippers from all over the world, as well as those drawn to the vibrant cultural life and restored historical areas. Southern Florida offers the active traveler abundant white sand beaches and water sports, golf, tennis, and natural habitats for bird-watching and canoeing.

PALM BEACH

Palm Beach was named for its palm trees, planted in 1878 when a Spanish cargo ship carrying them ran aground on the beach. The American architect Addison Mizner arrived in 1918. He designed many of the Spanish-Moorish homes along Ocean Boulevard, including Mar-A-Lago, built in 1923 for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. The Norton Museum of Art has extensive holdings of European, American, and Chinese pieces. Take Route 1 south 18 miles to Delray Beach.

The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, (561) 655-2833. The Norton Museum of Art, (561) 832-5196. The Breakers, (561) 655-6611.

DELRAY BEACH

Settlers from Michigan and Japan established Defray Beach in the 1920s. George Morikami, a farmer and one of the earliest settlers, acquired 200 acres of land that he willed to the county to create the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. It includes a theater, galleries, tea house, nature trail, and bonsai garden. Military miniatures covering two thousand years of history are on view at the Cornell Museum of Art and History. The dates for the Delray Beach Community Center Antiques show are February 13 and 14. Continue on Route 1 south eight miles to Boca Raton.

Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, (561) 495-0233. Cornell Museum of Art and History, (561) 243-7922. Antique Show and Sale, (561) 243-2233.

BOCA RATON

Legend has it that this inlet of jagged rocks was named "mouth of the rat" by Spanish pirates. In 1925, Addison Mizner designed the city plan for Boca Raton. Two of his surviving 1920s buildings are the lavish pink Boca Raton Resort Hotel and Club and the city’s administration building. Historic houses open to the public include the 1920 Old Schoolhouse, the 1937 Pioneer House, and the 1923 Historic Butler House, built from plans from Woman’s Home Companion magazine. Visit the International Museum of Cartoon Art, started by Mort Walker, the creator of Beetle Bailey. The Old Floresta Historic District along Cardinal Avenue has many small Spanish Colonial-style homes. Spanish River Park and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center are two places to take in native plants and birds. Take Route 1 south 20 miles to Fort Lauderdale.

Boca Raton Resort Hotel and Club, (800) 327-0101. Old Schoolhouse and Pioneer House, (305) 427-1050. Historic Butler House, (305) 429-0378. International Museum of Cartoon Art, (561) 391-2200. Spanish River Park, (561) 393-7815. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, (561) 338-1473.

FORT LAUDERDALE

Named for several forts that protected settlers from Seminole attacks, Fort Lauderdale became a south Florida resort town in the 1920s. The Museum of Art features North and South American art and Dutch and Flemish paintings. The 1920 Bonnet House is the 35-acre estate of painter and art collector Frederick Clay Bartlett, whose furnishings, studio, and tropical plants are on view. The Fort Lauderdale Historical Society Museum has collections of local artifacts, Seminole and Colonial settlers’ clothing, toys, and a scale model of a fort. Stranahan House, built for trader Frank Stranahan in 1901, is a good example of Florida frontier design. The 1907 King-Cromartie House, a replica of an 1899 schoolhouse, and a Discovery museum complex are all housed in the 1905 New River Inn. Hugh Taylor Birch State Recreation Area is home to such endangered species as the gopher tortoise and golden leather fern. The Riverside Hotel, the oldest in Fort Lauderdale, has large guest rooms with Jacobean-style oak furnishings. Cont inue on Route 1 south to 195 east, about 30 miles to Miami Beach.

Museum of Art, (954) 525-5500. Bonnet House, (954) 563-5393. Fort Lauderdale Historical Society Museum, (954) 463-4431. Stranahan House, (954) 524-4736. King–Cromartie House, (954) 462-4116. Hugh Taylor Birch State Recreation Area, (954) 564-4521. Riverside Hotel, (954) 467-0671.

MIAMI BEACH

In 1920, 1,600 acres of mangrove swamp east of Miami were drained and developed into Miami Beach. During the 1980s, more than 800 pastel-hued structures in the Art Deco district, in the heart of South Beach, were restored and renovated, revitalizing the city. Today, the area boasts art galleries, clubs, and restaurants, along with the Miami City Ballet and the New World Symphony at the Lincoln Theater. The Wolfsonian–FLU Foundation Gallery offers rotating exhibits of American and European art produced between 1885 and 1945. The Holocaust Memorial has five main areas of sculptures and captioned photographs. Simply named The Hotel, a recently restored 1939 structure with 52 rooms, has been decorated by fashion designer Todd Oldbam with inlaid terrazzo floors, lush fabrics, and playful lighting fixtures. Adventurous divers might try the underwater Wreck Trek site in north Miami Beach, with two shipwrecks, the Patricia and Miss Karline.

Continue on Route AlA to 41 to 95 south about seven miles to Miami.

Miami City Ballet, (305) 532-7713. New World Symphony, (305) 673-3331. Wolfsonian-FIU Foundation Gallery, (305) 531-1001. The Holocaust Memorial, (305) 538-1663. The Hotel, (305) 531-2222.

MIAMI

Miami was incorporated in 1896. Today, the city is a melting pot of cultures with ethnically mixed neighborhoods such as Lithe Havana, Little Haiti, and Coconut Grove. The Art Deco Historic District runs from Ocean Drive to Lenox Avenue in nearby Miami Beach. Rare antiquities and decorative arts are on view in more than 70 rooms at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The Historical Museum of Southern Florida, in the Metro-Dade Cultural Center, interprets 10,000 years of Florida’s history from prehistoric Indian artifacts to 1830s Audubon prints. The Gold Coast Railroad Museum collections include Henry Flagler’s locomotive, a circa 1950 California Zephyr, and a Pullman car. In a 1930 Art Deco building, the Bass Museum of Art exhibits European paintings, and sculpture and decorative arts. From March 3 to 12, Miami celebrates Carnaval in Little Havana with food, concerts, and dancing events. Take Route 95 south to Route 913 southeast ten miles to Key Biscayne.

Vizeaya Museuni and Gardens, (305) 579-2813. Historical Museum of Southern Florida, (305) 375-1492. Gold Coast Railroad Museum, (305) 253-0063. Bass Museum of Art, (305) 673-7530. Carnaval Miami, (305) 644-8888.

KEY BISCAYNE

Linked by the William Powell Bridge, Key Biscayne and Virginia Key are two islands where visitors can catch a great view of downtown Miami. The area is popular with bikers, skaters, and watersports enthusiasts. The Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area offers 494 acres to explore. Visitors may climb to the top of the 1845 brick Cape Florida Lighthouse. The 37-acre Miami Seaquarium is home to many rescued manatees, sharks, and sea lions. On the ocean, the Sonesta Beach Resort Key Biscayne offers 300 rooms. Backtrack about eight miles on Route 913 to Route 1 south to Coral Gables, a total of about 13 miles.

The Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Area, (305) 361-5811. Miami Seaquarium, (305) 361-5705. Sonesta Beach Resort Key Biscayne, (305) 365-2340.

CORAL GABLES

Similar to Palm Beach and Boca Raton, Coral Gables is a planned community of residential and commercial buildings with a Mediterranean flavor. George Merrick established the city from his 3,000 acres of citrus and avocado groves. His boyhood home, Coral Gables Merrick House and Gardens, is open and has been restored with family furnishings and artwork. The Lowe Art Museum displays antiquities and European and American sculpture. Don’t miss the Venetian Pool, a large rock quarry turned into a springfed swimming pool, where Johnny Weismuller and Esther Williams both swam. The Fairchild Tropical Garden is an 83-acre botanical garden with a conservatory, rainforest, and sunken garden. Built in 1926, the historic 279-room Biltmore Hotel is a great place to end a Florida journey.

Coral Gables Merrick House and Gardens, (305) 460-5361. The Lowe Art Museum, (305) 284-3603. Venetian Pool, (305) 460-5356. City Hall, (305) 446-6800. The Fairchild Tropical Garden, (305) 667-1651. Biltmore Hotel, (800) 727-1926.

If you’re planning on going to Disneyland after winning your next Olympic medal, there’ll be no need to encourage your car-mate to pray for parking. While elsewhere in America, white-knuckled drivers are gripping their steering wheels in frustration as they circle the block looking for that elusive space, you’ll be sailing, so to speak, off Interstate 5 right onto the entrance ramp that leads directly into the world’s largest parking structure.

This new parking facility, designed by Harry Wolf, principal of Wolf Architecture, is the keystone in Disney’s efforts to expand their Southern California kingdom. Land previously used for surface parking has now been reclaimed for a new theme park, as well as for the new garage which houses up to 10,500 cars. As drivers enter–at a rate of 60 cars per minute–they line up to one of six booths where they are directed to a specific parking area. “In elephantlike fashion, nose to tail, the cars move up through the building and park in tandem,” quips Wolf. This “conga line” reinforces efficiency as cars empty and visitors make their way to a pedestrian zone at the east end of the building, and then down an escalator that deposits them at the tram pickup. No need to worry if the lemming or elephant in front of you loses their way–plenty of smiling “cast members” are there to keep the show going.

It was no easy task preventing a structure that is as long as the Chrysler Building is high from looking like a behemoth. Wolf didn’t want the relentless appearance of a factory, or the Pentagon. Instead, he likened the design to a ship or an oil refinery: The parts make up the whole but “explicate the intelligence of the building. There is a logic to how it works.” Each facade addresses the site through its tectonics. The mass of the west side, for instance, is broken by precast-concrete planters in deference to the residential neighborhood across the street. The north and south facades comprise a series of seismic sheer walls, each 39 feet wide and 61 feet, 7 inches tall, linked by 51-foot-long post-tensioned beams. Wolf likens them to Roman aqueducts that help make the scale comprehensible. Exit stairs are pulled out to articulate the elevations. Wolf deployed louvers on the east side, where pedestrians walk to escalators, to protect eyes from the sky’s glare as well as to help drivers adjust to the dimme r light as they make their way through the garage.

The massive new parking garage is vital to the daily operation of the Disney Resort, which now includes not only Disneyland, but the new California-themed park, a resort hotel, and a Downtown Disney entertainment center. By strengthening and centralizing parking, Disney hopes to transform frustrated road warriors into worthy citizens of the “happiest place on earth.”