Destination Guides

Welcome to Miami: A Traveler’s Luxury Guide to the Magic City

As Miami gears up for Miami Art Week, Pat Bosch, design director of Perkins+Will, reveals her personal hotspots to Luxury Defined

Internationally recognized architect Pat Bosch has been design director of Perkins+Will’s Miami office since 1996 and designed one of the city’s most striking buildings – the glass-and-steel Academic Support Center at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus. Having lived in Spain, Puerto Rico, New York, and Zurich, she now considers Miami her home: “The city has come a long way since I moved here,” she says. “I love the diversity of its creative environment, its sense of fearlessness, its respect for nature, the climate and surrounding environment, and how globally minded it has become.”

“Miami has come a long way since I moved here,” says Pat Bosch, design director of Perkins+Will’s Miami office. Photograph: Perkins+Will. Banner image: Miami South Beach skyline. Photograph: Getty ImagesHere are her Miami highlights for art lovers or those considering making their visit more permanent.

A different perspective
For Bosch, the most meaningful architecture showcases the past and present; she believes that the built environment should be a concrete embodiment of poetry and tradition – something that moves people, or makes them think.

Natural light was key to the design of the Academic Support Center at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus, and helped it achieve Gold LEED certification. Photograph: Robin Hill
Natural light was key to the design of the Academic Support Center at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus, and helped it achieve Gold LEED certification. Photograph: Robin Hill
Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus: “I love it and my company was fortunate to lead the design for its new Academic Support Center, which was featured in the Architectural Record in 2015.”

The Miami skyline viewed from Key Biscayne’s Rickenbacker Causeway, home to the popular Miami Rowing Club. Photograph: Getty Images
The Miami skyline viewed from Key Biscayne’s Rickenbacker Causeway, home to the popular Miami Rowing Club. Photograph: Getty Images
Miami Rowing Club in Key Biscayne, mainly because it gives people the opportunity to experience Miami’s skyline from a new perspective. “Visitors should go on a kayak so they can appreciate and view the wonderful contrast of the architecture and the stillness of the water,” she says. “You see things differently – I love to feel surrounded and embraced by nature. For me it is the ultimate picturesque experience.”

Dining out

A fish-eye view of The Rayleigh hotel, built in 1940 for $250,000, and which boasts the “most beautiful pool in America,” according to Life magazine. Photograph: iStock by Getty Images
A fish-eye view of The Rayleigh hotel, built in 1940 for $250,000, and which boasts the “most beautiful pool in America,” according to Life magazine. Photograph: iStock by Getty Images
Cantina La 20, a modern Mexican that has wonderful views of the Brickell neighborhood. And I love to go for cocktails at The Raleigh hotel, in Miami Beach. It’s home to the ultimate classic martini, shaken not stirred, with three olives and chilled so cold you can skate on it. My favorite restaurant ever is NIU Kitchen in [Miami arts district] Wynwood. It’s tiny – there are only five tables – and it serves the best cava and tapas.

Art and culture

Pérez Art Museum Miami, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, has a waterfront restaurant with spectacular views of Biscayne Bay. Photograph: Shutterstock
Pérez Art Museum Miami, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, has a waterfront restaurant with spectacular views of Biscayne Bay. Photograph: Shutterstock
Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Rubell Family Collection, The Bass Museum of Art and The Wolfsonian. I love the collections and one-of-a-kind selections – they’re unique and world-renowned. They discover high-caliber talent that’s edgy and groundbreaking.”

World-class shopping
RESPICE in South Miami is great – it has unique accessories and lifestyle items from all over the world, mostly made by independent designers. And I also like Luminaire – a pioneering design and furniture company, and Books&Books.”

The best places to stay

Each of Casa Morada’s 16 suites has a private outdoor living space with views of the beautiful gardens or Florida Bay. Photograph: Alamy
Each of Casa Morada’s 16 suites has a private outdoor living space with views of the beautiful gardens or Florida Bay. Photograph: Alamy
Casa Morada, an all-suite hotel in Islamorada, which has incredible Gulf views and a peaceful and serene atmosphere. I also really like the furniture design throughout the house. It’s minimalist and tropical chic, all white and pristine. They take the art of hospitality to another level.”

Relaxation

There are 11 lakes and eight water features at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, including Glade Lake (pictured) – each has a unique ecology and aquatic theme. Photograph: Alamy
There are 11 lakes and eight water features at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, including Glade Lake (pictured) – each has a unique ecology and aquatic theme. Photograph: Alamy
Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables is special. It’s here I take my sketchbook and a smuggled glass of white wine. It has world-class sculpture exhibitions but most of all I love its magnificent curated gardens where nature becomes art.”