Our Streets
Walking Tour of the Historic District
The Miami Center for Architecture & Design
The Miami Center for Architecture & Design (MCAD) has moved to a new location at 310 SE 1st Street in Miami’s Central Business District.
MCAD promotes awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the ways in which architecture and urban design influence the built environment and enhances the quality of life in the community as well as promoting discourse about architecture and urban design in Miami. MCAD functions as a resource for the architectural profession as well as the general community. Home to the Miami Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Miami), MCAD also operates the Downtown Miami Welcome Center in partnership with the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
In its sixth year, MCAD has become the destination for everyone interested in the built environment — residents, tourists, public servants, developers, builders, students and professionals alike.
“MCAD celebrates the City’s vibrant architecture and urban fabric through exhibitions, lectures, tours, film series and other programs that aim to reveal the richness of design in Miami,” commented Cheryl Jacobs, Executive Vice President, AIA Miami & the Miami Center for Architecture & Design. “We house a gallery, lecture/seminar facilities, meeting and event space, as well as a shop dedicated to all things Miami.”
Downtown Miami Historic Architecture Walking Tour
Held twice a month, the MCAD Tour is a must-do in downtown Miami. The two-hour tour highlights several of downtown Miami’s best historic buildings, most of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours begin with a brief introductory discussion and cover a three+ block area in the core of the Central Business District. “Whether you are an architect or just love architecture, whether you are visiting or live here, this tour is for you,” Cheryl Jacobs exclaims.
The next Tour is Saturday, November 10, at 10 am.
On the subject of walking and architecture, can’t help evoking Rebecca Solnit’s wise observation in Wanderlust: A History of Walking: “Walkers are ‘practitioners of the city,’ for the city is made to be walked. A city is a language, a repository of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of selecting from those possibilities. Just as language limits what can be said, architecture limits where one can walk, but the walker invents other ways to go.”
For more information: MCAD.
