In Pursuit of Pleasure: Schultze & Weaver and The American Hotel

November 13, 2005–May 28, 2006
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

The 1920s was an era of grand hotel construction in the United States, and no architectural firm made a bigger mark in those years than Schultze & Weaver of New York. Between 1921 and 1931, the firm designed fourteen hotels, some of the largest and most opulent of the time, from New York City to Havana and from Los Angeles to Palm Beach. Schultze & Weaver buildings included the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, the Breakers in Palm Beach, and the Miami Biltmore in Coral Gables, which remain among the most luxurious hotels in America.

In Pursuit of Pleasure focused on Schultze & Weaver hotels in the context of many decades of development in American hotel design. The exhibition first examined the physical impact of hotels, showing how they shaped neighborhoods and regions, even as their designs expressed the values of an age of conspicuous consumption. Then, it guided viewers through the hotel—from rooftop cafés to basement laundries—to explore how architects created fully designed environments for relaxation, fantasy, and work. Lastly, In Pursuit of Pleasure provided a glimpse into the years of the Great Depression and after, when hotel models evolved to meet new conditions, ending with the rebirth of the grand hotel after the Second World War.