According to an Associated Press story, the fate of two recently vacated Bacardi buildings remains unclear. Bacardi is moving its corporate headquarters to Coral Gables, so city leaders must decide what to do with the two iconic buildings.

The two Bacardi buildings are famous Miami landmarks. One building is an eight-story structure covered with white and blue Spanish tiles. The other building is a perfect square covered in modern art mural made of glass. The buildings have to symbolize the Cuban influence in Miami, as well as the general Latino impact upon Florida’s largest city.

Cuban-born architect Enrique Gutierrez designed the first blue and white headquarters, built in 1963. In 1973, Coral Gables architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz built the second building, a structure suspended 47 feet off the ground and supported by a fire-engine red foundation.

Though the two Bacardi buildings are not fifty years old (the required threshold to declare a structure historic), city officials are meeting to discuss and vote on their historic status. The meeting will be held in May to give Bacardi time to study the issue.

Allan Shulman, professor of architecture at the University of Miami, sees the Bacardi buildings as beautiful examples of that exhibit Miami’s ethnic heritage. “The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about,” he says. Ivan Rodriguez, an architect with RJ Heisenbottle of Coral Gables, echoes Allan Shulman’s views. “These buildings are terribly important to Miami’s architectural legacy,” he says.

Rodriguez added the Bacardi family has had had a long tradition of supporting art and architecture, bringing a keen appreciation for public art to Miami after their vacated Havana headquarters —a famous Art Deco building.

Architectural enthusiasts see the Bacardi buildings as a unique Latino take on mid-century architecture. “MiMo,” short for “Miami Modern,” is the label designated by architects for these intriguing ’50s and ’60s structures. The Fontainebleau Hotel is another example of the lively MiMo style. Randall Robinson, the author of MiMo: Miami Modern Revealed, calls the Bacardi buildings Miami’s version of the Lever House in New York City.

If the city votes to preserve the Bacardi buildings, the property owners will be eligible for grants and tax breaks, but they will be prohibited from tearing down the buildings or changing their exterior appearance.

Article Source: Miami weighs preserving iconic Bacardi buildings.

More information on Bacardi:

• Bacardi wins Havana Club court battle with Cuba
• Review of book about Bacardi’s long struggle in Cuba.
• Bacardi environmental initiative employs renewable energy.