Elevator to heaven
For 42 years, Bacardi’s American corporate offices were located in Midtown Miami, on Biscayne Boulevard. Although the famous spirits company has since relocated to Coral Gables, its landmarked former headquarters is now home to the National YoungArts Foundation, and remains the crown jewel of the Modern Architecture district.
The floral- and tropical-themed azulejos (blue and white tin-glazed ceramic tilework) that run up the sides of the seven-story Bacardi tower feature abstract representations of birds and plants native to the area. Commissioned by Bacardi’s then-president José “Pepin” Bosch and designed by exiled Cuban architect Enrique Gutierrez in 1964, Bacardi USA was established five years after Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba.
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Address 2100 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33137 | Tip La Provence (2200 Biscayne Blvd), one of Miami’s best French cafes, is just a block north on Biscayne. After basking in the rainbow inside the Bacardi Annex, grab a croissant and continue exploring the rest of Midtown Miami.
Behind the taller main building sits a smaller rectangular structure, three stories high and cantilevered above a huge Bacardi bat logo enameled onto the courtyard tiles. Bacardi commissioned this floating cube, wrapped in colorful stained glass “tapestries,” in 1972. The work, completed by German artist Johannes Dietz, depicts the rum-making process, from raw sugarcane to the finished product. Inside the building, however, the design takes on a completely different life.
At the base of the Bacardi Annex, underneath the shade of the overhang, sits an unassuming elevator that lifts you to the second and third floors. The doors open to reveal a rainbow of light, welcoming you inside Miami’s life-sized jewelry box. The sun brilliantly illuminates the crystalline walls, and seen from this perspective, the glass mosaic looks like a wildly colored island paradise. Yellows, oranges, and ruby reds bounce off the ceilings and floors, gleefully dancing with emerald greens and sapphire blues, as if the fiery silhouette of a setting sun is tangling with the deep azure of the ocean beneath. And standing in the middle of it all, you are the gem inside.
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