ARQUITECTONICA, by Beth Dunlop (AIA Press:...

ARQUITECTONICA, by Beth Dunlop (AIA Press: $40.). This lavish volume surveys the buildings of the celebrated Miami design firm that created the Atlantis, the Postmodern condominium complex with the revolutionary five-story “sky court,” made famous in the opening shot of “Miami Vice.” Much of the firm’s work is boldly appealing, including the curving Bank of America building at Wilshire and Robertson in Los Angeles. However, some of their creations look a bit too self-consciously design-y for their own good. Staying at the Spear House in Biscayne Bay, which is done in five shades of bright pink, must be like living inside a plastic flamingo, and the Imperial, another Miami condo complex, looks as though it were built with a Lego set. Dunlop includes the plans for several unbuilt projects, including the Horizon Hill Center, four connected towers that bear a dismaying resemblance to the three-prong optical illusion Mad used to run during the ‘60s.