In Conversation: On Downtown Miami History, Chronicling 125 Years, 1896-2021

Allan Shulman is an architect, author, editor, and curator. He serves as director of graduate programs in architecture and as a professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture, and he is the founding principal of the award-winning architectural and design firm Shulman + Associates. Shulman’s research focuses on themes of modernism, tropicality, and urbanism.

Poet Campbell McGrath is the author of 11 full-length collections – including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Nouns & Verbs, New and Selected Poems – four chapbooks, and several hundred poems that have been published in journals, quarterlies, newspapers, and websites. He has also translated Aristophanes, written two librettos for experimental operas with composer Orlando Garcia, and played in a punk rock band. He currently serves as the Philip and Patricia Frost Professor of Creative Writing and Distinguished Professor of English at Florida International University.

Raul Guerrero is the author of various books of fiction and nonfiction, academic curator of the Downtown Arts + Science Salon, and editor of Downtown News. In Downtown Miami History, Chronicling 125 Years, 1896-2021 (DASS Books), Guerrero offers a broad view of 125 years of Miami’s booms and busts, reinventions, and disasters – natural and human-made – on its way to becoming a global city. He combines book excerpts, essays, articles, memoirs, trivia, interviews, and even a memorable work by award-winning poet Campbell McGrath. The book is illustrated with photos by Niels Johansen.

Paul S. George, Ph.D., is the resident historian at HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate in downtown Miami. A native Miamian and former college professor, George has taught at several universities and colleges, and has authored 17 books and hundreds of articles, book reviews, and columns. He has served as president of the Florida Historical Society, vice chairman of the City of Miami’s Heritage Conservation Board (1984-1987), director of the Historic Broward County Preservation Board, and president of the Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archive, and he currently serves as a member of Metro Dade County’s Preservation Board (1997-present).

Aaron DeMayo – an architectural designer, urban planner, and resilience strategist – is the principal at Future Vision Studios. He is focusing on and has written about the climate crisis and designing resilience adaptations for South Florida, including planning and zoning policies, designing living shoreline parks, and introducing large-scale mobility and green infrastructure.