What to see in two days in Miami, the city of luxury, art and avant-garde design?

Without measure and without complexes, Miami, the city of “Latin power” does not stop reinventing itself. His penultimate obsession? Give life to “downtown” with art and design.

Think of all the topics suggested by the unusual Miami. The mansions of the great Latin fortunes. The lycra between palm trees and art deco buildings. The parties on deck towards the torrid keys. Calle 8, Cuban cigars and dominoes… The city of Florida never disappoints in its excesses, but it also knows how to skip the script. That is why today it is time to talk about the cultural center designed by Rem Koolhass, the Zaha Hadid tower or the new contemporary art museum with a Spanish signature in the design district… The fiery Miami has a thousand edges. Let’s find out.

DAY 1

17.00 H. ARRIVAL. All the heavyweights of the hospitality industry have a fabulous offspring in Miami, although many of the most famous date back to the 30s and 40s of the last century, when the art deco style exploded. After an exhaustive renovation, the Iberostar Berkeley opened last autumn in one of these historic buildings of geometric shapes and pastel colors. The second hotel of the Spanish chain in the US (from 150 euros per night) can not be better located, one block from the shops of the famous Lincoln Road and another from the beach, where it has a beach club.

19.00 h. LUMMUS PARK. Landscape and countrymanship in Miami Beach are simply second to none. Nothing better than a walk along Ocean Drive to check it out and overcome jet lag, the only downside of crossing the pond. This is the neon avenue and center of nightlife. Already in the afternoon their terraces are filled and the XXL size daisies fly. Impossible not to remember Scarface and Miami Vice, so to raise the bar you have to look at The Betsy, the literary hotel where instead of reggaeton they serve live jazz. Just opposite, Lummus Park is home to skaters, beach volleyball players and bodybuilders. The Art Deco Welcome Center , in the center of the park is the right place to hire a tour (20 euros) through the most emblematic buildings in the area.

21.00 H. DINNER IN JUVIA. At 1111 Lincoln Road, Herzog & de Meuron created one of the most beautiful car parks in the world in 2010. The Juviaasoma restaurant on its top floor looking over its shoulder at all of South Beach. The privileged penthouse with vertical garden included takes the chic Miami to its ultimate consequences. Be sure to try the oysters (three, for 10 euros) or the grilled scallops with goose, chives, mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and yuzu vinaigrette, the delicate Japanese lemon (27 euros).

DAY 2

9.00 H. ON THE SHORES OF THE BAY. Colorfully tattooed lifeguard houses dot the beach. It is essential to take a bath before the heat tightens. After having some eggs benedict (13 euros) for breakfast at the News Cafe, you won’t regret taking an uber to get to our first stop downtown: the Pérez Art Museum (PAMM). On the shores of Biscayne Bay, the contemporary art center is the second footprint of the Swiss Herzog & de Meuron in Miami, only here they had to build a hurricane-proof building. His first test passed without disheveling last year, when he was hit by Irma, category 5.

12.00 H. A FUTURISTIC TOWER. Next to the PAMMstands the new Frost Museum of Science, which combines a museum of natural sciences, with aquarium and planetarium. And just behind the construction of the futuristic skyscraper designed by the late Zaha Hadid progresses well. The simplest apartments of the 62-storey, scorpion-shaped One Thousand Museum have gone on sale for about 5 million euros.

The most creative and award-winning ceviches in the city are hidden in this restaurant, the first of the small empire of Lima chef Juan Chipoco. Don’t be fooled by the minimalist look of the place. Its 15 types of ceviches and tiraditos are an authentic festival of aromas, flavors and textures. If you do not know what to choose, nothing like the trilogy of ceviches (26 euros).

15.00 H. THE DESIGN DISTRICT. One of the last to land has been Gucci, with a dazzling store in front of the no less colorful Prada concept storein this neighborhood that begins to rival Fifth Avenue in New York. December also saw the inauguration of the new headquarters of The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), a private museum designed by the Spanish studio Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos, its first project in the US.

17.00 H. THE MURALS OF WYNWOOD. And from signature design to Wynwood’s urban art, which remains the city’s most groundbreaking creative axis. Among its old factories and warehouses covered with murals, new premises emerge every day, the bait of trend seekers. Do not miss Zak the Baker, the kosher bakery-cafeteria with hipster clientele (the rye loaf, 5 euros), nor the Wynwood Brewing Company, pioneer craft brewer (pint of Wynwood IPA, 6 euros) whose cans are pieces of art. To see the work of some of the world’s most renowned urban artists, visit Wynwood Walls.

19.00 H. DINNER IN BRICKELL. Also in downtown, the financial center is the new must of nightlife. Book a table at Cantina La Veinte, a Mexican haute cuisine. The aguachile (seafood in chili sauce, 17 euros) are a scandal. The drink after must be taken next to the Brickell City Center, a new and exclusive shopping center. There stands the EAST hotel and, on its 40th floor, Sugar, the fashionable rooftop to have a storied and exotic cocktail (12 euros).

DAY 3

9.00 h. FAENA DISTRICT. After a strong breakfast at BLT Steak, we head down Collins Avenue to 32nd Street. It is mandatory to go through the recently renovated Bass Museum and a hit on Instagram, but the goal is even more ambitious: an entire cultural district created by a single person, the Argentine Alan Faena. Of course, with the invaluable collaboration of Jeff Koons and Norman Foster. The first is responsible for the Faena Forum, a cultural center surrounded by a parking lot, another, amazing. The second signs a very elegant apartment tower. The now famous mammoth of the artist Damien Hirst rests in the garden of the Faena hotel.

13.00 H. LUNCH AT CECCONI’S. We said goodbye to Miami surrounded by beautiful people in the courtyard of Cecconi’s. A quinoa and kale salad (13 euros) and we can feel good to walk back along the beach. After so much worship of art, that of the body. After all, this is Miami.

Source: https://www.expansion.com/