South Beach: So cool even the buildings need sunglasses?
Whenever I go to my doctor’s office, I sit in the exam room waiting for him. I always notice these funky metal shades that cover the windows and I decided to do some research and find out what these ‘things’ are called. I obviously knew that it was for some kind of sun protection but I wanted to know more. They are called brise-soleil. I see them mainly on late 50’s and early 60’s era buildings but lately I have seen on NEW buildings too. Lets take a tour!
This is the Mellon Bank building which is ‘kitty corner’ from my doctor’s office. In the older buildings brise-soleil, from what I have observed, were only put on the east, south and west exposures.
This is a photo of the Montclair Lofts. This building was built in 2005. This building is located at the corner of 17th & Meridian Avenue and is across the street from my doctor’s office. The brise-soleil on this building is used for privacy as well as an architectural element. As you can see the metal is not aging well. The building was designed by haute architect Chad Oppenheim , he has done a lot edgy stuff (condos & homes) here in the Miami area.
This is the Gorlin building at AQUA Allison Island. This building was built in 2004 and has brise-soleil on the east, south and west sides of the building. Obviously, the building did not need sun-shading today!
