Alfred I. DuPont Building

skyscraper
art-deco
FL
Miami

About the Alfred I. DuPont Building in Miami
1. Building Catalogations
Architect and team
Architectureal style
Spaces and uses
Structure and materials

The Alfred I. DuPont Building is an Art-deco skyscraper designed by Marsh and Saxelbye and built between 1937 and 1939, for a reported $2.50 million dollars, in Miami, FL.

Its precise street address is 169 East Flagler Street, Miami, FL. You can also find it on the map here.

The Alfred I. DuPont Building is a structure of significant importance both for the city of Miami and the United States as a nation. The building embodies the distinctive characteristic features of the time in which it was built and the Art Deco style. Because of that, the Alfred I. DuPont Building was officially included in the National Register of Historic Places on November 21^st 1988.

Building's timeline

Construction begins

1937

Construction completed

1939

Added to the NRHP

1988

years ago

2024

Architect and team

Marsh and Saxelbye was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

Architectural Style

The Alfred I. DuPont Building can be categorized as an Art-deco building.

The Art Deco movement flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, with many historians marking the outbreak of World War II as its final decline. Even though a couple of decades might not seem as much, the Art Deco movement had a great impact on architecture, and it's widely represented in many American cities due to the development boom that happened during that time.

Art Deco marked the abandonment of traditional historicism and the embracement of modern living and the age of the machine. In architecture, that meant leaving behind the ornaments of Beux-Arts and Neo-Gothic buildings and instead favoring simplicity and visual impact through geometric shapes, clean lines, and symmetrical designs. Ornaments were still an important part of the design, but they became bold and lavish, and were often inspired by ancient cultures or industrial imagery, instead of nature.

The Alfred I. DuPont Building was completed in 1939 during the last stretch of waht's officially considered to be the duration of the Art Deco movement. As a late-commer of the Art Deco movement and reflects the mature and refined characteristics of the style.

Spaces & Uses

It has a total of 20 floors, 17 above ground and 3 basements.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1939, the Alfred I. DuPont Building has mainly been used as Commercial space.

Materials & Structure

The Alfred I. DuPont Building uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade is non-load bearing either, as it is common in frame structure type buildings.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a base made of Alabama black granite surrounding the first level. Above the base, we find a repeating window pattern, which by playing with the color contrast between the green-tinted spandrels and mullions, and the light color of the facade's limestone-clad, emphasizes the height of the structure. The building is topped by an articulated line of setbacks.

The main entrances are located in the center of its two main facades and consist of double glass doors with brass frames and bars at the top of the entrance.

Other materials found at the Alfred I. DuPont Building include, brass, found in the bas-relief decorations of the elevator doors and general ornamental details, and marble, used for covering walls and columns, floors and balustrades.

Sources

npgallery.nps.gov