So, What Makes a Building MiMo?

MiMo architects weren't particularly interested in making buildings blend in. They wanted them to turn heads, and they had a few favorite ways of doing it.

  • Delta-wing rooflines, sharp and angled like something borrowed from the jet age.

  • Beanpole columns, so slender (and sometimes tilted) that whole buildings seem to float.

  • Breeze blocks, decorative concrete screens that let the air through and throw geometric shadows across a wall all afternoon.

  • Open-air walkways and wraparound verandas, because nobody needs an enclosed hallway when there's a tropical breeze on offer.

  • Bold colors and playful geometry, with boomerangs, kidney shapes, zigzags and atomic starbursts thrown in for good measure.

  • Stone accent walls and floating staircases, turning even the practical bits into something worth looking at.

  • Nautical details and marine-life motifs, from decorative waves and dolphins to the occasional mermaid.

  • Neon signs, since even architecture deserves a little nightlife.

Delta-wing canopy on slender turquoise beanpole columns at The Vagabond Hotel Miami, a classic MiMo design

Delta-wing canopy on turquoise beanpoles

Delta-wing canopy on turquoise beanpoles

Delta-wing canopy on turquoise beanpoles

You don’t have to go far to find most of them. At The Vagabond Hotel Miami, turquoise beanpole columns still stand out front, geometric concrete railings run along the open-air corridors and let the breeze drift through, mermaids and dolphins swim across the bottom of the 40-foot mosaic pool, and the falling-star neon still takes care of the nightlife.

Open-air staircase with geometric concrete railings and turquoise beanpole columns

Geometric railings and beanpoles at the Vagabond

Geometric railings and beanpoles at the Vagabond

Geometric railings and beanpoles at the Vagabond

Meanwhile, on Biscayne Boulevard

While Miami Beach was busy showing off its glamorous resort hotels, Biscayne Boulevard was developing a personality of its own. Roadside motels, cocktail lounges and diners all embraced the new style, each one competing for the attention of drivers heading south on U.S. 1.

Believe it or not, those space-age curves still line the boulevard today. Many of Biscayne’s retro motel royals, including the Shalimar, the New Yorker and the Gold Dust, have survived, their swooping rooflines, playful geometry and vintage-inspired signage still recalling the days when a motel had to catch your eye from a moving car.

Officially designated in 2006, the MiMo Biscayne Boulevard Historic District stretches along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Upper Eastside, from NE 50th to NE 77th Streets. Up toward its northern end, at 7301 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, sits The Vagabond Hotel Miami, a 1953 MiMo motel by architect B. Robert Swartburg, restored as a boutique hotel and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so you can actually spend the night inside the style this page is all about.

A Little Roadside Nostalgia

And then there's the Coppertone Girl. Not technically architecture, of course, but try telling her she's not part of the neighborhood. First installed in downtown Miami in 1959, she and her mischievous little dog found a new home on Biscayne Boulevard in 2008, bringing a wonderfully cheeky slice of Miami's roadside history along with them.

And where did she land? Right across the street from the Vagabond’s fountain ladies, naturally.

How a roadside motel became a restored independent boutique hotel is another story, and we’ve got a whole History page about it.

So next time you're wandering the neighborhood, look up. Those funny angles, floating roofs and gloriously impractical-looking details were all very much on purpose, and Miami wouldn’t be quite Miami without them.

Want to see it up close? Explore our rooms.

Vagabond Motel neon sign on Biscayne Boulevard, with the Coppertone Girl across the street

Our sign, with the Coppertone Girl opposite

Our sign, with the Coppertone Girl opposite

Our sign, with the Coppertone Girl opposite