Wolfsonian Museum

In Pursuit of Pleasure: Schultze and Weaver and The American Hotel. Through May 28th, 2006The Wolfsonian Museum is offering audiences an insightful exploration of American hotels in the early 20th century. In Pursuit of Pleasure: Schultze and Weaver and The American Hotel centers on original architectural presentation drawings and plans from The Wolfsonian’s collection. The exhibition a proposes a detailed look at the landmark luxury hotels designed by the architectural firm of Leonard Schultze and S. Fullerton Weaver, and help viewers understand these buildings as the culmination of decades-long trends in the development of American hotels. The 1920s were the last great era of grand hotel construction until the post-war boom, and no firm made a bigger mark in those years than Schultze & Weaver. The partnership, formed in 1921 and based in New York City, where it began by designing hotels for the Biltmore chain in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Havana. Later, the architects went on to design luxury hotels in New York City and South Florida. These include the Waldorf-Astoria, the Sherry-Netherland, the Pierre, and the Lexington, in New York; the Breakers in Palm Beach; the Nautilus and Roney Plaza in Miami Beach; and the Miami Biltmore in Coral Gables. A number of these remain among the greatest hotels in America. The exhibition focuses framing their work within a broader historical context. Changing patterns of design and use will be explored, from the rambling urban hotels of more than a thousand guestrooms at the beginning of the century to the small, streamlined hotels of the 1930s. Presentation drawings and architectural plans will comprise the core of the show; the addition of furniture, tableware, photographs and printed ephemera will enhance visitors’ understanding of hotels as fully designed environments. For more information, please call: 305.531.1001