Photo: Edwyn Garcia

BACARDI TOWERS

2100 Biscayne Boulevard is not just any address. It’s home to the Bacardi Towers listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Originally built to house the operations of the Caribbean giant of the liquor industry and home to the National YoungArts Foundation, the Bacardi logo is often seen by planes flying into Miami International Airport every day. Its tile murals signed by Brazilian Francisco Brennand and the mosaic by German Johannes Dietz in the so-called “The Jewel Box” are both imposing but create a special connection with those who stop seeing them.

Today, when Miami’s architecture is quite contemporary, if not futuristic, the Bacardi Buildings, a landmark of Midtown Miami, remind us of the timeless character of the classic.