SUAREZ AND VIZCAYA: AN ITALIAN GARDEN IN A SUB-TROPICAL PARADISE By MARGARITA BLANCO A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 Margarita Blanco To Enrique ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In a study such as this dissertation, one builds up enormous debts to a multitude of people who in many ways contributed in bringing this effort to fruition and without whose help and support this work might not have been successful. First and foremost, my thanks go to Fernando Gomez, M.D., who initiated me in this journey and who did not live to see its results. I will forever be grateful! To Laurinda Spear and my current colleagues, too many to name, thank you for the many ways you’ve given your encouragement and support to keep me focused during this long process. To the person who this thesis is about, Diego Suarez, I owe a debt of gratitude; through this research, I have discovered a new world that was unfamiliar to me. To Professor Kevin Thompson, thank you for putting up with my old-fashioned way of working and for always offering words of enlightenment during my spells of stress and self-doubt to help me believe that I could ultimately complete the task. For all the reading of the outlines and drafts, discussions, stimulating conversations and many helpful suggestions and remarks, as well as for creating a significant and fertile environment for the development of my theoretical thinking, I remain indebted. This thesis wouldn’t be what it is without your guidance, patience and experience; your encouragement allowed this project to proceed as smoothly as it did. To my other Dissertation and Qualifying Exam Committee Members, Professors Janet Matthews, William Tilson, Charlie Hailey and Coco Fusco, thank you all for your expertise and your willingness to serve on my behalf, for challenging me and pushing me to develop the project you knew I was capable of. Your support has been immeasurable. 4 I would also like to thank Mickey Schafer, PhD, for her insights and guidance which helped to open my mind to my writing possibilities. She too has given me constant encouragement and help in maneuvering within this process and deserves credit for her help in improving my English writing. I could write a book for the many ways Enrique Gaviria, my husband, has supported me over the years. He has borne the brunt of my late life projects and has been my sounding board for all my woes and has listened to my spontaneous fits of frustration amid this sometimes-chaotic process. Most of all he has loved me and supported me unconditionally. No woman could ask for anything more. Without him, I would not have been able to take on this commitment. It hardly goes without saying that huge thanks go to the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens staff. Without their permission to enter onto and into their archives and property, this study would not have been possible. Also deserving special mention is Jose Asuncion Suarez-Niño, who helped me to collect a large portion of the original material included in this dissertation. He provided invaluable information from the Suarez family and without his assistance a portion of this study could have never been completed. I am extremely grateful to Francesca Bertolini, who assisted me in Florence with digging through old volumes and records at the Florence Academy of Art, the City of Florence Archives and in serving as translator during the multiple visits to the Suarez gardens around Florence. Her assistance was invaluable in piecing together many unknowns. 5 Many thanks to the current owners of Villa La Pietra, Villa Selva & Guasto, Villa Schifanoia, and Villa Torri Gaitaia for their hospitality during my visits to their properties and for sharing valuable information about the gardens. To those I may have missed, please forgive me. I thank you all for your assistance and continual support throughout the duration of this project. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... 7-9 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ........................................................... 12 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 16 The Argument for Interpreting Suarez .................................................................... 17 Theoretical Framework: Design as a Social Process .............................................. 24 2 FRAMEWORKS OF UNDERSTANDING DESIGN ................................................. 28 Design as a Social and Cultural Process ................................................................ 29 Philippe Stark .......................................................................................................... 33 Luis Barragan ......................................................................................................... 36 Fort-Brescia and Spear ........................................................................................... 39 Design Practice/Process ......................................................................................... 43 3 PREPPING THE GROUND FOR VIZCAYA, PART I: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF LANDSCAPE ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS ............................................... 50 The Italian Garden .................................................................................................. 50 Italy: The Florence Academy of Art ......................................................................... 56 France: The Ecole des Beaux Arts ......................................................................... 57 History of Latin American Landscape Architecture ................................................. 64 Gardens in Colombia (1890 – 1930) ....................................................................... 70 Education in Colombia ............................................................................................ 72 Landscape Architecture in America ........................................................................ 73 European Influence in Design Training in the United States ............................ 74 American Gardens: A Mirror of Society ............................................................ 76 America’s Park Movement ................................................................................ 77 City Beautiful Movement................................................................................... 78 Country Place Era ............................................................................................ 79 The Gilded Age: The American Renaissance ......................................................... 80 United States: the training of American Architects .................................................. 87 Meeting of Minds: Convergence in Florence ........................................................... 88 Anglo-Americans in Florence ........................................................................... 88 7 American Influence in Florence ........................................................................ 91 4 PREPPING THE GROUND FOR VIZCAYA, PART II: THE DEERINGS AND MIAMI ..................................................................................................................... 94 The Development of South Florida: A Sub-Tropical Paradise ................................. 94 Social Agents: The Deerings of Miami ............................................................. 96 The Deerings’ Estates .................................................................................... 102 Differences and Similarities .................................................................................. 103 5 DIEGO SUAREZ: A COLOMBIAN, ITALIAN, and AMERICAN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT ......................................................................................................... 106 Early Life in Bogota (1888-1907) .......................................................................... 106 Suarez Arrives in Florence (1906-1914) ......................................................... 107 Suarez and the Second Renaissance Revival Group ..................................... 109 Suarez’s Mentor .................................................................................................... 112 Suarez: Four Villa Gardens in Florence.......................................................... 115 Suarez Travels to America ............................................................................. 124 A Transcontinental Design Dialogue Begins ......................................................... 126 6 DESIGNING VIZCAYA ......................................................................................... 131 Creating Topography at Vizcaya ........................................................................... 135 The Mound ..................................................................................................... 135 The Barge ......................................................................................................