More on Opa-locka Florida – the city based on The Arabian Nights – from Miami New Times, apharisto ya Pedro -

"Miami Icons: Opa-locka City Hall, an Arabesque Dream in the Face of Urban Decay

By Abel Folgar Mon., Aug. 11 2014 at 9:00 AM

 

picture by Karli Evans

 San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge. St. Louis has the Arch. Las Vegas has its retro welcome sign. It seems like every city has an iconic structure to represent itself to the rest of the world. Every city but Miami, that is. The Magic City is full of architectural gems, and maybe that's why no one building has come to define it. But that's left this town without a symbol of its own. In our Miami Icons series, we're aiming to fix that. Today, writer Abel Folgar argues that Opa-locka's City Hall is the perfect metaphor for Miami.

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Founded in 1926 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and fashioned by a bizarre penchant for the One Thousand and One Nights, Opa-locka is the largest architectural example of the Moorish Revival style in the west, with the city hall building being the flagship that arrows out to other structures in the city. The 1926 Great Miami Hurricane effectively destroyed South Florida, and the newly minted City of Opa-locka was not exempt. But a large majority of the buildings survived -- the mettle with which dreams are built."

read the full post - http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2014/08/miami_icons_opa-locka_city_hall_an_arabesque_dream_in_the_face_of_urban_decay.php

 

Salesman Paul Brennan lost in Opa Locka's 1001 Streets

The 1969 film Salesman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salesman_%28film%29) is something you should run out and rent immediately. It is a beautifully shot documentary following several door-to-door Bible salesmen in the 1960s. In one sequence one of the salesmen, Paul Brennan, gets lost in the city of Opa Locka, Florida and thus in its 1001 Nights built layout. You can see a lot of the street names here and get a glimpse of the Orientalized city hall. At the end of this clip he tells his coworkers he was lost in the "Muslim district".

French Filmmaker Producing Film about Opa Locka, Florida

I've written before (check Labels on the sidebar for "urban spaces" or "opa locka") about the city of Opa Locka, Florida, USA.  It is an economically depressed urban area with a history interestingly related to the Nights, several government buildings are built in "Eastern" styles and many of the streets have Nights-related names.

Now a film is being made about the city by French filmmaker Armand Morin.

I've quoted from The Miami Herald below.  Complete Article link is here:  http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/03/2188131/french-filmmaker-producing-documentary.html

"The documentary is expected to be released in June and is scheduled to appear in the Panorama 13 film festival in the northern French city of Lille. The city will receive free copies by June 2011 and will schedule a screening."

French filmmaker producing documentary about two sides of Opa-locka

• Photos

By Ines Mato

Special to The Miami Herald

5/3/11

"Opa-locka’s Moorish architecture evokes tales of the Arabian Nights. But the neighborhoods surrounding the historic district reflect the harsh realities of residents who face unemployment and high crime rates.

This contrast was what drew Armand Morin, a French filmmaker, to direct Opa-locka Will Be Beautiful.

“I have been fascinated by two things: the history of this Moorish architecture and the fact that the community goes beyond this heritage and has to struggle with everyday challenges,” Morin said.
Through the voices of Opa-locka leaders and residents, the 30-minute documentary produced by Le Fresnoy connects the Arabian-themed roots of the city with the urban society of the present time.

In the first scene, a voiceover narrates how aviation pioneer and 1920s developer Glenn Curtiss founded the city inspired by the Arabian Nights. Following Curtiss’ fantasy, architect Bernard Muller designed buildings and houses that resembled the Arabian architectural style. According to University of Miami architecture teacher Jean-Francois Lejeune, the Opa-locka City Hall was once the center for Arabic festivals.

Lejeune also explains that Opa-locka was first built as a leisure place. The city featured a golf course, a zoo and a swimming pool. However, through the years, Opa-locka began to lose its leisure spaces and became a more urbanized place.

Now, far from the Arabian fantasy, Morin found a society that struggles with a rough economy and high crime rates.

"The city has a problem with crime and drugs. I think this is a problem of education and professional opportunities for the people," Morin said.

Even though the Arabian dream died a long time ago, the desire for change is still in the residents’ minds, especially in Opa-locka Community Development Corporation CEO Willie Logan’s mind, Morin said.

"You can see that this idea of having a vision for the city has always been very important. From Glenn Curtiss’ Arabian fantasy to Logan’s more pragmatic plan," Morin said.

Morin said that Logan intends to preserve the history, industry and architecture of the city, while at the same time improving the neighborhoods’ facades."

Opa Locka - Florida

The town of Opa Locka Florida, described by wikipedia:

"The city was developed by Glenn Curtiss and was based on the Arabian nights theme with streets that have names like Sabur Lane, Sultan Avenue, Ali Baba Avenue, and Sesame Street. Opa-locka has the largest collection of Moorish architecture in the Western hemisphere.[2]

The name Opa-locka is a contraction of a Native American name for the area, “Opa-tisha-woka-locka”, meaning "The high land north of the little river on which there is a camping place."[3]"

If anyone finds out or knows how Curtiss was interested in the Nights I would be very interested to find out too.

Unfortunately, according to the city's government website: "The City has experienced a sharp decline, become one of the most violent and poverty stricken communities in South Florida."

A list of street names I found include the following:

Fisherman Rd/St
Ali Baba Ave
Aladdin St
Sinbad Ave
Salih St
Sharazad Blvd
Ahmad St
Sesame St
Dunad Ave
Sharar Ave
Sabur Ln
Beder St
Jann Ave
Banu St
Bahman Ave
Oriental Blvd
Arabia Ave
Harem Ave
Kasim St

the following pictures are from the website: http://www.agilitynut.com/deco/fl.html

These pictures - I'm not sure of their copyright status - but if they're yours please let me know and I'll give you credit.

Video of a news story about how the city banned saggy pants (features some shots of the city's buildings):




And if you have any other pictures of the buildings or street signs in Opa Locka, please send!

For more information on the Arabian Nights and Opa Locka check out the following article as well:

Dream and Substance: Araby and the Planning of Opa-Locka
Author(s): Catherine Lynn
Source: The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Vol. 23, Florida Theme Issue (1998),
pp. 163-189
Published by: Florida International University Board of Trustees on behalf of The Wolfsonian
-FIU
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1504168