Brutalism in Miami

Miami's concrete architecture belongs mostly to its public sector, built in the 1960s and 70s when federal and county agencies favored robust, sun-shading concrete over glass. The style suited the climate: deep overhangs, brise-soleil grids, and raised masses answered heat and hurricanes alike. Ferendino, Grafton, Spillis & Candela, a leading local firm, designed the School Board Administration Building and helped define the civic architecture of Dade County in these years. Downtown, the Claude Pepper Federal Building and the fortress-like Miami Police Department headquarters by Steward-Skinner Associates show the institutional face of the movement. These buildings form a counterpoint to the city's better-known Art Deco and tropical modernist traditions.