Pérez Art Museum Miami

An impressive glass building on Biscayne Blvd opened in late 2013 and sent the art world chatter into overdrive. There were fascinating key players-- real estate developer Jorge Perez, the Miami municipality and curator extraordinaire Thom Collins-- a multi-million dollar fundraising effort (only a fraction of which was provided by the museum's namesake) and an important contemporary art collection emphasizing Latin American works.

Across three stories the institution displays paintings by Diego Riviera, sculptures by Joseph Cornell and installations with varied success. Some rooms work so well with their holdings it seems they were designed with them in mind. Other rooms have such depressing lighting and silly layouts that it's hard to imagine the building was created with the intention of displaying artwork.

The celebrity status of the institution has drawn important exhibitions, such as the Ai Weiwei show “According to What,” which famously attracted violence and headlines (in protest to the museum not supporting enough Latin artists, a Spanish man smashed a vase that belonged to part of a $1 million installation).

The most exciting part of the museum is the building's exterior, which rises from a nondescript sector in overtown, like a temple to all things cool. The architects took inspiration from nearby Stiltsville, the grouping of houses set on pilings located in the Atlantic a few miles east of South Beach. Huge columns of growing plants hang from wooden rafters like a modern day variation of the Gardens of Babylon. Go during sunset to experience the way the building changes with the light.