Babylon Apartments

Threatened

Babylon Apartments

Credit

Phillip Pessar/Flickr

Site overview

The Babylon Apartments is a six-story multi-use “elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies” that sits on a long narrow site across from the bay on Brickell Boulevard. The building stands out among the rest of the buildings in an area that has been overdeveloped with surrounding high-rise buildings.  It was the first major project for Arquitectonica, which launched their career, and it served as a model for other projects by the firm in the Brickell area.  In 1978 the Babylon won a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, the first international award for the firm. 

Babylon Apartments

Credit

housingprototypes.org

Site overview

The Babylon Apartments is a six-story multi-use “elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies” that sits on a long narrow site across from the bay on Brickell Boulevard. The building stands out among the rest of the buildings in an area that has been overdeveloped with surrounding high-rise buildings.  It was the first major project for Arquitectonica, which launched their career, and it served as a model for other projects by the firm in the Brickell area.  In 1978 the Babylon won a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, the first international award for the firm. 

Babylon Apartments

Credit

housingprototypes.org

Site overview

The Babylon Apartments is a six-story multi-use “elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies” that sits on a long narrow site across from the bay on Brickell Boulevard. The building stands out among the rest of the buildings in an area that has been overdeveloped with surrounding high-rise buildings.  It was the first major project for Arquitectonica, which launched their career, and it served as a model for other projects by the firm in the Brickell area.  In 1978 the Babylon won a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, the first international award for the firm. 

Babylon Apartments

Credit

housingprototypes.org

Site overview

The Babylon Apartments is a six-story multi-use “elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies” that sits on a long narrow site across from the bay on Brickell Boulevard. The building stands out among the rest of the buildings in an area that has been overdeveloped with surrounding high-rise buildings.  It was the first major project for Arquitectonica, which launched their career, and it served as a model for other projects by the firm in the Brickell area.  In 1978 the Babylon won a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, the first international award for the firm. 

Babylon Apartments

Site overview

The Babylon Apartments is a six-story multi-use “elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies” that sits on a long narrow site across from the bay on Brickell Boulevard. The building stands out among the rest of the buildings in an area that has been overdeveloped with surrounding high-rise buildings.  It was the first major project for Arquitectonica, which launched their career, and it served as a model for other projects by the firm in the Brickell area.  In 1978 the Babylon won a Progressive Architecture Citation Award, the first international award for the firm. 

Primary classification

Residential (RES)

Secondary classification

Commercial (COM)

Terms of protection

On January 25, 2018 the Miami commission overturned a July 2016 unanimous ruling designating the Babylon apartments, which were thirty-four at the time, a Miami architectural landmark.  Typically a building must be fifty years of age for landmark status under the city’s preservation ordinance, however the preservation board felt it possessed “extraordinary merit". The July ruling prevented the building from being demolished but was overturned after an appeal by the buildings owner who wishes to redevelop the land.

Designations

Miami architectural landmark status overturned January 25, 2018.

Location

Babylon Apartments

240 SE 14th Street
Miami, FL, 33131
Credit:

Phillip Pessar/Flickr

Credit:

housingprototypes.org

Credit:

housingprototypes.org

Credit:

housingprototypes.org

Designer(s)

Other designers

Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Laurinda Spear, Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Hervin Romney

 

Related News

Related chapter

Florida

Commission

1978

Completion

1982

Commission / Completion details

Designed in 1978 and construction finished in 1982. Arquitectonica was commissioned to build their first commercial building on narrow site off of Brickell Boulevard. Their solution was “an elongated ziggurat with a red front and ship-like balconies”.

Current Use

Vacant

Current Condition

Condemned, declared unsafe by the city in 2016.  Neighbors and preservationists say the owner let the building fall into ruin by neglect.  The owner says the building leaks badly, was poorly designed and cheaply built.  An engineer for the owner says it is “corroded to pieces” and poses a public hazard.

General Description

The Babylon Apartments is six-story ziggurat inspired post-modern apartment building with a bright red painted façade located in the Brickell area of Miami.  The stepping back of the structure inspired the buildings name as well as the set back necessary due to the surrounding houses which have since been replaced by high-rises.  Along with the stepped painted façade, the building has long balconies with rail, much like those seen on a cruise ship, and a pool and courtyard in the center.

Construction Period

1979-1982

Original Physical Context

The building is said to be responsible for the redevelopment of the Brickell as an urban residential district in the 1980s while also helping Arquitectonica become known worldwide.

References

Flechas, Joey. "Owner wants to demolish apartment, but city board says at 34, it’s historic." Miami Herald, July 5, 2016. July 5, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/brickell/article87870312.html.

 McCaughan, Sean. "Babylon Apartments in Miami, one of Arquitectonica’s first designs, is at risk." The Architects Newspaper, June 22, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2018. https://archpaper.com/2016/06/miami-babylon-apartments-arquitectonica/.

 McCaughan, Sean. "Arquitectonica's Iconic Babylon Towers Declared Unsafe, at Risk of Being Replaced by Condos." Gridics. January 20, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2018. https://www.gridics.com/news/arquitectonicas-iconic-babylon-towers-declared-unsafe-risk-being-replaced-condos.

 Viglucci, Andres . "Babylon Apartments live on as preservation board blocks demolition." Miami Herald, May 4, 2016. May 4, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article75441047.html.

 Viglucci, Andres . "Miami’s landmark Babylon Apartments, first Arquitectonica building, faces demolition." Miami Herald, March 5, 2016. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article64124462.html.

 Viglucci, Andres . "This building put Arquitectonica on the global map. That won’t stop its demolition." Miami Herald, January 26, 2018. January 26, 2018. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/downtown-miami/article196799969.html.