Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
CITY OF MIAMI PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Staff Report & Recommendation
To: Chairperson and Members Historic & Environmental Preservation Board
From: Megan Schmitt Preservation Officer
Applicant: Lynn Lewis, HEPB Member
Subject: Item No. – The Babylon, 240 SE 14th Street
BACKGROUND:
This is a new application. On April 5, 2016, Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB) member Lynn Lewis directed Preservation Office staff to prepare a preliminary designation report for the Babylon Apartments, located at 240 SE 14th Street. The purpose of this report is to establish if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a more thorough investigation about the significance of this structure.
THE PROPERTY: The Babylon is located within the lower section of Brickell in an area called Point View. Point View is located between SE 14th Street and SE 15th Road and is comprised of two semi-circular roads that form an inner and outer ring that each start at Brickell Avenue, then swing out towards the bay and return back to Brickell Avenue. Around the outer ring at the circular edge, the lots are all irregularly shaped. This irregularity allows for the structures on these parcels to be placed at an angle that provides unique and advantageous views from the units within.
Acting as a primary focal point of the structure is the front façade, a stair-stepped two-dimensional wall plane constructed of concrete block that is coated in stucco, and painted a vivid red color. This façade is referred to as a “ziggurat” and it is stated that it is “reminiscent of many Dutch 17th century facades” in the text description within the catalogue produced for an exhibition of Arquitectonica’s work between 1977 and 1984. A reason given for the stepped design is so that the architecture could conform to the constraints of the lot as well as those of the setbacks required under the then zoning code.
A first floor of the habitable space is raised in order to accommodate parking at ground level, creating a base for the structure. The base is
HEPB- MAY 3, 2016 Page 1 of 6
Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
constructed of concrete with an opening on the front façade allowing cars access into the space directly from the street. The concrete base was originally scored with masonry lines and painted a gray color to mimic Florida keystone. Today this base is still painted gray however, the scoring lines have disappeared. At the second floor the structure separates, providing an open courtyard that is centralized on the plan containing the pool deck. This central clearing makes way for a second visible ziggurat form that closely mirrors the outline of the front façade. If viewed from an angle, looking from SE 14th Street towards the bay, the image of the double façade and the overall length of the lot is captured.
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Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
PHOTOS:
Figure 1. Babylon Apartments, east façade.
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Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
ANALYSIS:
Sec. 23-4. - Designation of historic resources, historic districts, and archaeological sites and zones.
(a) Criteria for designation. Properties may be designated as historic resources, historic districts, or archaeological sites and zones only if they have significance in the historical, cultural, archaeological, paleontological, aesthetic, or architectural heritage of the city, state, or nation; possess integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association; and meet one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Are associated in a significant way with the life of a person important in the past;
(2) Are the site of a historic event with significant effect upon the community, city, state, or nation;
(3) Exemplify the historical, cultural, political, economical, or social trends of the community;
(4) Portray the environment in an era of history characterized by one or more distinctive architectural styles;
(5) Embody those distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or method of construction;
(6) Are an outstanding work of a prominent designer or builder;
(7) Contain elements of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship of outstanding quality or which represent a significant innovation or adaptation to the South Florida environment; or
(8) Have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
(b) Criteria exceptions. Ordinarily cemeteries, birth places, or graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions or used for religious purposes, structures that have been moved from their original locations, reconstructed historic buildings, properties primarily commemorative in nature and properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years shall not be considered eligible for listing in the Miami register of historic places. However, such properties will qualify for designation if they are integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria, or if they fall within the following categories:
(1) A building or structure that has been removed from its original location but is significant primarily for architectural value, or is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event;
(2) A birthplace or grave of a local historical figure of outstanding importance if no appropriate site or building exists directly associated with his or her productive life;
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Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
(3) A cemetery that derives its primary significance from graves of persons of outstanding importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events;
(4) A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented appropriately as part of a restoration master plan and no other building or structure with the same association has survived;
(5) A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own exceptional significance;
(6) A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is exceptionally important; or
(7) A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical importance.
Because the building is not yet fifty years old (completed in 1982, it is currently 34), Chapter 23 of the City Code says that it must be found to be “exceptionally important” in order to be designated. In this case, the Preservation Office has found that there are several factors that need to be considered before a recommendation can be made as to whether the structure at 240 SE 14th Street should be designated as a historic resource.
The preliminary research that has been completed to date has established many important questions that, once answered, will determine whether the building should be considered “exceptionally important” or not. For these reasons, it is the recommendation of the Preservation Office that a Final Designation report be prepared.
Further analysis is required regarding these questions:
•How are we defining “Arquitectonica’s first” for the purposes of this analysis? The Babylon Apartments and the Palace were both designed in 1979, however the Palace was completed in 1980 and the Babylon Apartments in 1982. How much does this impact our understanding of the Babylon’s importance? If the Babylon’s design was completed earlier in 1979 than the Palace, would this change our understanding of significance?
•The Pink House and the Babylon Apartments both won prestigious awards for their progressive designs. In a 1982 Miami Herald article, architecture critic Beth Dunlop asserts that because the Pink House had been a collaboration of Spear and architect Rem Koolhaas, it was the P/A (Progressive Architecture) award for the Babylon Apartments that “represented Arquitectonica’s real launching.” The Preservation Office needs to analyze other P/A recipients to understand how many, if any, are locally designated within their respective municipalities. How many P/A recipients from the 1970s and 1980s are considered to be iconic buildings today?
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Staff: MCS & TL Application received: 4/5/2016
•Several newspaper and magazine articles from the early 1980s make the point that Arquitectonica’s rise to fame came much faster than most young firms. After just two relatively small local projects, the Pink House and the Babylon Apartments, Arquitectonica began designing large-scale residential projects that even well established firms often have a hard time securing. Many of these projects – the Palace, the Atlantis Condominium and the Imperial – are considered fixtures on the Miami skyline. How does the Babylon Apartments fit into the firm’s early work within the broader context? Did the Babylon influence the designs that immediately followed?
•How does the Babylon Apartments compare to the other historic sites that were designated by the HEPB prior to turning fifty years old? For these sites, how was their “exceptional importance” established?
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
The Preservation Office finds that the preliminary research that has been completed to date establishes that there are many important questions that, once answered, will determine whether the building should be considered “exceptionally important” or not. For these reasons, it is the recommendation of the Preservation Office that a Final Designation report be prepared. This will allow staff the time necessary to conduct the further research required to finalize the analysis as to the significance of the structure.
HEPB- MAY 3, 2016 Page 6 of 6
THE BABYLON
240 SE 14 Street
Preliminary Designation Report
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REPORT OF THE CITY OF MIAMI PRESERVATION OFFICER TO THE HISTORIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BOARD ON THE POTENTIAL DESIGNATION OF THE 240 SE 14 STREET AS A HISTORIC SITE
Prepared By: Megan Cross Schmitt Historic Preservation Officer
Trisha Logan Historic Preservation Planner
Passed and Adopted On:
Resolution Number:
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Contents
I. General Information II. Preliminary Statement Of Significance
III. Description IV. Application of Criteria V. Bibliography
VI. Photographs
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I- General Information
Historic Name: The Babylon
Current Name: The Babylon
Date of Construction: 1982
Location: 240 SE 14 Street Miami, Florida 33131
Present Owner: Babylon International, Inc. 180 Island Drive Key Biscayne, Florida 33149
Present use: Multi-Family Residential
Zoning: T6-8-R
Folio No.: 01-4139-068-0001 01-4139-068-0010 01-4139-068-0020 01-4139-068-0030 01-4139-068-0040 01-4139-068-0050 01-4139-068-0060 01-4139-068-0070 01-4139-068-0080 01-4139-068-0090 01-4139-068-0100 01-4139-068-0110 01-4139-068-0120 01-4139-068-0130 01-4139-068-0140
Boundary (Legal Description): Babylon Towers Condo Point View Sub PB 2-93 Lot 5 Less Nly 10ft for R/Q & S ½ of outlot less nly 25 ft for R/W blk 2 lot size 15,646 sq ft F/A/U 01-
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Setting: The structure is located on SE 14 Street within the lower section of Brickell in an area called Point View.
Integrity: The structure has not been subject to major alterations on the exterior and retains a high level of integrity.
II- Statement of Significance
The Babylon is one of the first projects completed by Arquitectonica within the City of Miami. This world-renowned architectural firm was founded in Miami in the late 1970s and from the start, their work has been credited with changing the skyline of the city. Statements such as this one regarding their significance were being made as early as 1984:
And today Miami is recognized for its association with Arquitectonica, a firm whose unmistakable style, distinguished by high-spirited and unambiguous forms set off in brilliant colors, has created landmarks along Biscayne Bay.1
The firm was founded by five members in 1977: Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Hervin Romney and Laurinda Spear. By the early 1980s, Duany, Plater-Zyberk and Romney had moved on, and Fort-Brescia and Spear were left as the remaining principals of the firm.2
Arquitectonica’s work has been making a strong impression since its inception. In 1978, the firm completed its first project, The Pink House, a Miami Shores residence designed for Laurinda Spear’s parents. Once described as “ultramodern and romantic, unrestrained and disciplined, shocking and pleasing, inviting and challenging all at the same time,” the house caused controversy and delight.3 Five different shades of pink were used in the painting of the house: “There were parades of sightseers, anonymous phone calls, angry letters, committee
1 Koeper, Frederick. Arquitectonica, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: An exhibition of drawings, models, plans and photographs, 1977-1984. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 1984. 2 Dunlop, Beth. Arquitectonica (New York: Rizzoli, 2004), 37.
3 Allman, T.D. Miami: City of the Future (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987), 33.
6 meetings. And then praise, approbation, esteem, when the house became the darling of the international design press.”4
This contradictory reaction to Arquitectonica’s work may have originated with its first project yet has persisted ever since. In 1982, Miami Herald architecture critic Beth Dunlop wrote: “Arquitectonica’s work is inventive and infuriating, provocative and provoking, elegant and arrogant. It’s delightfully child-like, offensively cute, sleekly sophisticated and sometimes very sloppy. All at once.”5
In the same article, Dunlop went on to say this about the Babylon:
The Spear house was completed in 1978, and for a while, it was Arquitectonica’s only finished product. But that same year, the firm won its first Progressive Architecture award, an annual prize by that magazine for promising design work. The drawings for the Babylon split jurors, one of whom praised its “Chagallian, Star Wars” look and another of whom said it was ugly. But more than the Pink House (which, after all, was done in conjunction with Koolhaas and for one partner’s parents), the award represented Arquitectonica’s real launching.
The Babylon is finally being completed at the corner of SE 14th Street and South Bayshore. And – speaking here sheerly in terms of design – it turns out to be a pretty nice apartment building, neither surreal, nor ugly. It’s right in scale with the adjacent neighborhood mansions, and despite its colors – brick red, bright red, turquoise and gray (right now) – it slides beautifully into its context.
Each succeeding floor of the six-story Babylon steps back, ziggurat style, and that accomplishes two things: It gives the building a ship-like scale and it hearkens back to early modern European buildings. With a false top and cookie cutter windows, it’s very entertaining.
Were it not for a real failure to attend to the finishing details of construction, the Babylon would be the best achievement of Arquitectonica: the painted walls have a wonderful cardboard–thin
4 Kron, Joan. "My Son, the Architect: Houses for Parents." New York Times (New York), November 12, 1981. 5 Dunlop, Beth. "Arquitectonica Turns Design into Child’s Play." Miami Herald (Miami), April 4, 1982, Architecture/Comment sec.
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quality to them, and the stepbacks and the cutouts give the building a delightful silhouette.6
This is one of many references made specifically to the Babylon by both local and national newspapers and magazines profiling the firm in the early 1980s. Though some of their other projects such as the Palace, the Atlantis Condominium and the Imperial may have been better known outside of Miami, the Babylon seems to have stood out on its own, never falling into the shadow of the other, larger- scale projects. It was described as a “landmark in Point View” as early as 1983, just one year after its completion.7
The Pink House and the Babylon Apartments both won prestigious awards for their progressive designs. However, Dunlop asserts that because the Pink House had been a collaboration of Spear and architect Rem Koolhaas, it was the P/A (Progressive Architecture) award for the Babylon Apartments that “represented Arquitectonica’s real launching.”
III- Description
The Babylon is located within the lower section of Brickell in an area called Point View. Point View is located between SE 14th Street and SE 15th Road and is comprised of two semi-circular roads that form an inner and outer ring that each start at Brickell Avenue, then swing out towards the bay and return back to Brickell Avenue. Around the outer ring at the circular edge, the lots are all irregularly shaped. This irregularity allows for the structures on these parcels to be placed at an angle that provides unique and advantageous views from the units within.
The lot on which the Babylon sits is approximately 15,000 square feet with the footprint of the structure conforming to the constraints of the shape of the irregular lot. Rising six stories, this residential structure is dwarfed among the taller high rises that surround and contains thirteen residential units, with a mixture of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Structurally, the Babylon is framed with reinforced concrete footings, columns, and beams that supported each floor’s pre-fabricated concrete slab and stucco wall skin.
6 Dunlop, Beth. "Arquitectonica Turns Design into Child’s Play." Miami Herald (Miami), April 4, 1982, Architecture/Comment sec.
7 Zaldivar, R.A. “Gary’s Banker Friend Asks Zoning Variance.” Miami Herald (Miami), September 23, 1983, Local sec.
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Acting as a primary focal point of the structure is the front façade, a stair-stepped two-dimensional wall plane constructed of concrete block that is coated in stucco, and painted a vivid red color. This façade is referred to as a “ziggurat” and it is stated that it is “reminiscent of many Dutch 17th century facades”8 in the text description within the catalogue produced for an exhibition of Arquitectonica’s work between 1977 and 1984. A reason given for the stepped design is so that the architecture could conform to the constraints of the lot as well as those of the setbacks required under the then zoning code.
Facing the street, the front façade features a ziggurat design void of decoration, that folds inwards into the lot. This inward fold creates an L-shaped cove that provides access via a zigzag stairway to the second floor open-air lobby and residential units. Punctured into the façade are rectangular window openings, fitted with clear fixed panes of glass, and aluminum sliding glass doors along the horizontal plane of the structure, each opening onto the balconies. Giving an additional sense of detail on the portion of the front façade that folds inward are square-shaped openings fitted with glass block. Going upwards at each level, the structure further narrows to match the bold ziggurat façade. A pipe railed balcony runs the full length of the façade, creating a linear pattern and further accentuating the depth of the lot.
A first floor of the habitable space is raised in order to accommodate parking at ground level, creating a base for the structure. The base is constructed of concrete with an opening on the front façade allowing cars access into the space directly from the street. The concrete base was originally scored with masonry lines and painted a gray color to mimic Florida keystone. Today this base is still painted gray however, the scoring lines have disappeared. At the second floor the structure separates, providing an open courtyard that is centralized on the plan containing the pool deck. This central clearing makes way for a second visible ziggurat form that closely mirrors the outline of the front façade. If viewed from an angle, looking from SE 14th Street towards the bay, the image of the double façade and the overall length of the lot is captured.
8 Van der Marck, Jan. Arquitectonica, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: An exhibition of drawings, models, plans and photographs, 1977-1984. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 1984.
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IV- Possible Criteria to be Applied for Designation
The Preservation Office believes that further research should be conducted to see if the criteria below apply to the Babylon:
(5) Embody those distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or method of construction;
Many terms have been used to describe Arquitectonica’s early work; “noisy modernism,” “romantic modernism,” “Beach Blanket Bauhaus,” “billboard architecture,” to name a few. The Preservation Office believes that the style of the Babylon merits further study so that it can be contextualized within the firm’s early projects. There are many resources yet to be consulted that can likely provide information critical to our understanding of the significance of this building, including perhaps interviews with Arquitectonica’s two founding principals.
(6) Are an outstanding work of a prominent designer or builder;
As one of the firm’s earliest works, the Babylon reflects the beginning of Arquitectonica’s descent on Miami. However, the Babylon was one of what has been described as “a cluster of six notable Arquitectonica projects, an urban aggregation by a single firm without precedent in the United States.”9 While there is no doubt that Arquitectonica’s innovative designs were deeply connected to the rapid transformation that was occurring across the Miami skyline in the early 1980s, the task at hand is to differentiate the Babylon from its contemporaries.
Arquitectonica’s importance locally, nationally and internationally, is well established. What requires further study in this particular case, is whether the Babylon is one of the firm’s outstanding works. Additionally, given the fact that the building is not yet fifty years old, evidence must be found to support it being identified as “exceptionally important.” Further study and analysis are required to see if/how the Babylon fits into the broader context of Arquitectonica’s work in Brickell, to determine if it is an exceptional example of what was then the firm’s emerging stylistic identify.
9 Van der Marck, Jan. Arquitectonica, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: An exhibition of drawings, models, plans and photographs, 1977-1984. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 1984.
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In the case both criteria, the Preservation Office believes that there is sufficient information to merit moving forward with a Final Designation Report so that the necessary analyses can be conducted.
V- Planning Context
The Preservation Office believes that it is premature to evaluate the Planning Context until a final recommendation has been reached. However, it is worth mentioning that one of the initial comments made about the Babylon when it was first completed was how nicely it fit into the scale of the Point View neighborhood, which at that time still had many large, single family mansions. Today, the building is surrounded by high rises. The Babylon is now one of the few remaining structures that provides a glimpse of the previous scale of this section of Brickell.
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VI- Bibliography
Allman, T.D. Miami: City of the Future (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987).
Author unknown. “Rich and Famous.” Progressive Architecture, February, 1983.
Boles, Daralice and John Morris Dixon. “Winners Rise.” Progressive Architecture, January 1986.
Brown, Patricia Leigh. “Designs on Miami.” Esquire, December 1984.
Calonius, L. Erik. “Architectural Firm Alters Miami’s Skyline and Calls National Attention to Its Designs.” The Wall Street Journal (New York), July 7, 1983.
Dunlop, Beth. Arquitectonica (New York: Rizzoli, 2004).
Dunlop, Beth. "Arquitectonica Turns Design into Child’s Play." Miami Herald (Miami), April 4, 1982, Architecture/Comment sec.
Koeper, Frederick. Arquitectonica, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: An exhibition of drawings, models, plans and photographs, 1977-1984. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 1984.
Miami, Florida, Municipal Code Chapter 23 Historic Preservation.
Van der Marck, Jan. Arquitectonica, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: An exhibition of drawings, models, plans and photographs, 1977-1984. Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida 1984.
Von Eckardt, Wolf. “Jazzing up the Functional.” Time, July 23, 1984.
Zaldivar, R.A. “Gary’s Banker Friend Asks Zoning Variance.” Miami Herald (Miami), September 23, 1983, Local sec.
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VII- Photographs
Figure 1. Babylon Apartments, east façade.
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Figure 2. Babylon Apartments, northeast façade.
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Figure 3. Babylon Apartments, rendering (courtesy of Arva Moore Parks/Arquitectonica).
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