Another of Hohauser’s architectural contributions is this 1939 hotel-turned-luxury-boutique. While the Webster's collection of Parisian-designed fashion could easily be considered a tribute to its Art Deco pedigree, it’s the building’s original terrazzo flooring, as well as a geometric façade with neon accents, that solidify its Art Deco designation. The Webster features a perfectly symmetrical shape of geometric composition displaying ziggurat steps, curved edges and neon lighting. The once-functioning hotel has been transformed into a high-end fashion boutique offering couture luxury designs for men and women.
Later on (2009), Laure Heriard Dubreuil opens The Webster’s flagship location: A 20,000 square foot luxury multi-brand boutique located in the heart of Miami Beach, in a historical Art Deco building designed in 1939 by famed architect Henry Hohauser. The South Beach flagship is a 20,000-square-foot, three-level store in South Beach’s Art Deco District.
The Webster now has five locations across the United States in South Beach and Bal Harbour, Florida, New York City, New York, Houston, Texas and Costa Mesa, California.
The Webster has collaborated with brands on exclusive products such as Pierre Hardy, Calvin Klein, Anthony Vaccarello, Proenza Schouler, Berluti, and Balenciaga.
For those not interested in spending handfuls on shopping and instead there to admire the Art Deco design, The Webster has an inviting lobby where a cup of coffee or glass of bubbly can be enjoyed.
The Webster reminds me a lot of "The McAlpin" not only for the game of geometrical figures but for the color. In this case the color is used in pastel shades as represented in the Art Deco style. Even so, with all the decorative elements (many inspired by the Egyptian civilization) it has, the color, its symmetry and even its character of it, the building is still presented as a simple building and that is what I like about it.
Location
1220 Collins Ave at 12th St
