RIBA Bookshops

Reviewed for RIBA Bookshops by Samuel Carpenter, Book Buyer, RIBA Bookshops

Not many cities attain the weird status of Miami. It’s neither a capital nor a cultural centre; it sits on an out-of-the-way peninsula near a stinking swamp. Yet it has built up a set of connotations registering on a level that Bogota, say, cannot match. Mention Miami and mental associations occur. Taschen know this, which is why Don Johnson is mentioned in the first line of the blurb. They also know that a copiously illustrated book of notable interiors will appeal not only to designers seeking inspiration, but the ‘Hello’-magazine gene that lurks within most of us. Following a few scene-setting pages of cinematically garish Miami vistas, the book is entirely composed of guided tours of one crazed dream-home after another. No soap stars here, but a plethora of designers, authors and so on showing off their fabulous taste, dahling. The introductory paragraphs are often gems – apparently "parties in [Craig Eberhardt’s] basement can be pretty wild in an Austin Powers kind of way", although Kent Karlock prefers "[swimming] races with his house dolphin" (sadly not pictured). Some of the subjects invade the pictures with entertaining results; I was particularly taken with Lisa Halloran slouching pensively (yet coquettishly!) on her garden swing. The only disappointment is the lack of representation from the CIA’s favourite terrorists, the Cuban psycho mafia. I would have loved to have seen whatever objet d’art Frank Castro hid his cocaine in. The interiors travel the gamut from restrained elegance to grotesque kitsch, but the real treats are the isolated island retreats, especially the remarkable Stiltsville, set two miles into the Atlantic. Aside from the unintentional hilarity, this is a nicely produced coffee table tome, and good value at £24.99.