A 1937 favorite by Henry Hohauser, the most famous architect in Miami at the time. Here he used the nautical theme to great effect.

The abstract decoration above the ground floor of the Beacon has been brightened by a contemporary color scheme, an example of “Deco Dazzle,� introduced by designer Leonard Horowitz in the 1980s.

Perhaps the most famous of the Deco hotels along here, primarily because its stunning blue neon sign has featured in so many movies and TV series.

Here is one of the first examples (1937) of Nautical Moderne, where the style is carried to one of its logical extremes with the famous ornamental lighthouse on the hotel’s roof. Fantasy towers were the stock in trade for Deco architects.

The classic Streamline Moderne hotel was built in 1939. It features blue and white “racing stripes,� which give the impression of speed, and a striking central tower that recalls both a ship’s funnel and Native-American totems.

Even the lifeguard stations are done up in Deco on South Beach. Looking perhaps more like a homemade flying saucer that has just landed on the beach, these pink and yellow follies embody the spirit of fun that pervades the lifestyle.

Albert Anis used classic Deco materials – especially the glass blocks in the hotel’s bar, which is now a top South Beach neon-lit nightspot. Typical Deco features include vertical fluting, geometric decorative touches, the “eyebrow� overhangs shading the windows, and the stripy lettering on the sign.

The Leslie (1937) is cockatoo-colored, white and yellow with gray accents – a color scheme typical of those currently in favor along Ocean Drive. Originally, however, Deco coloring was quite plain, usually white with only the trim in colors. Nor were the backs of the buildings painted, since money was too tight in the 1930s to allow anything more than a jazzy façade. The Leslie’s interior has recently been renovated.

A late Hohauser work (1939) and the favorite of Barbara Capitman (see The Story of Tropical Deco), this is a Streamline masterpiece, in which the detail of traditional Art Deco is replaced with beautifully rounded sides, aerodynamic racing stripes, and other expressions of the modern age. The terrazzo floor utilizes this cheap version of marble to stylish effect. It was reopened in 1982 and is now owned by singer Gloria Estefan.

A traditional Art Deco hotel, which provides quite a contrast to the later Cardozo next door. Where the Cardozo emphasizes the horizontal and vaguely nautical, this façade is starkly vertical and temple-like. The temple theme is enhanced by beautifully ornate vertical stucco friezes, which recall the abstract, serpentine geometric designs of the Aztecs and other Meso-American cultures.

These include Florida palms and panthers, orchids and alligators, but especially birds, such as flamingos and cranes.

Actually, most Deco buildings here were originally white, with a bit of painted trim; the present-day rich pastel palette “Deco Dazzle� was the innovation of Miami designer and Capitman collaborator Leonard Horowitz in the 1980s.

What better way to remind visitors of the ocean and its pleasures than with portholes and ship-railings? Some of the buildings resemble beached liners.

This suggestion of speed is the essence of the Streamline Moderne style – it is an implicit appreciation of the power of technology.

These sculptural bands offered designers endless possibilities for a wonderful mix of ancient and modern motifs and themes.

This was a nod to the extreme modernity of Cubism, as well as, again, the power and precision of technology, espoused by Bauhaus precepts.

Many Deco buildings try to give the viewer a sense of something mythical – towers that speak of far shores or exalted visions – and that effectively announce the hotel’s name, as well.

Used mostly for outlining architectural elements, neon lighting, in a glamorous range of colors, came into its own with Tropical Deco.

What touch more perfectly says “modern� than a cool, incorruptible silver streak? Chrome is used as detailing on and within many buildings.

Used in the construction of many Deco walls, the glass blocks give a sense of light and lightness in a part of the country where indoor-outdoor living is year-round.