The Neighborhood

Aaron Glickman shares his insight on the Miami Design District

Miami Theater Center's Octavio Campos and Yevgeniya Kats performing at Site Specific in the Moore Building.

Though I appreciate many neighborhoods throughout all of Miami-Dade, the neighborhood that has of late captured my imagination is the Miami Design District. The area is truly a neighborhood with houses and condos within walking distance from restaurants, shopping and galleries.

I often eat at MC Kitchen, Crumb and Parchment and Buena Vista Bistro. I ate at Harry’s Pizza just the other night and had drinks with friends a few weeks back at Oak Tavern.

Art plays a considerable role in the neighborhood with several significant galleries, a world class private collection and renowned experimental space.

Locust Projects has great lectures and installations. The venue allows artists the space they need to do large scale projects that are not commercial.

And keeping the neighborhood real – and by that I mean swampy – is resident artist Oliver Sanchez and his SwampSpace. Ollie is as genuine as they come and his space hosts exhibitions, and is also a workshop where some of the city’s best artists come to collaborate and build installations.

The Miami Design District has recently embarked on a new initiative that is very exciting. Site Specific is a performing arts series that takes performance out of the traditional theater and into the spaces of the Design District – structures like the stylish and hip Moore Building, the unique common areas of the 4141 Building, and the Garden Building’s rooftop garden located above Hermes. The series has hosted institutions like the New World Symphony, Florida Grand Opera and Miami Theater Center; and has also hosted independent performers like Juan C. Sanchez, Project [theatre} and Marie Whitman.

And then there’s the luxury shopping and design showrooms – the area is just cool, bottom line.

Check out the It’s So Miami Insider campaign, and let us know what your favorite Miami neighborhood is. Photo by Manny Hernandez

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