Offering a prelude to Indiana Landmarks‘ Mid-Century Modern home tour, on June 6, Miami-based architect Jorge Hernandez will deliver a lecture about Modern architecture and his city’s efforts to save a Modern masterpiece, the Miami Marine Stadium. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be presented in the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Hernandez will discuss Modern design in Florida and, specifically, his involvement in helping to reclaim and refurbish the 1963 Miami Marine Stadium, one of 34 “National Treasures” the National Trust for Historic Preservation has designated in need of saving.
A few weeks ago, the campaign to resurrect the architectural gem got a boost from one of Miami’s most famous residents, Gloria Estefan. The singer and entrepreneur has agreed to help raise the millions needed to renovate the city-owned structure, at which she performed in the 1980s. Widely regarded as a design and engineering marvel with no equivalent in the world, the abandoned stadium has fallen into disrepair and become a haven for graffiti artists, who have covered virtually every inch of the structure, including its dramatically suspended, folded-concrete roof, with spray paint.
Cuban-born Hernandez, who teaches at the University of Miami, has an active architecture practice restoring Florida landmarks and designing infill construction. He is vice chair of the board of trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The “Miami Marine Stadium: Preserving and Interpreting an Icon of Tropical Modern Architecture” lecture will take place on Thursday, June 6 at 6 p.m. at The Toby, IMA. Admission is free, and you can RSVP at http://indianamodernlecture.