Hohauser studied at the
Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, then he came to Florida in 1932. Features of his work include symmetry on the front elevation, Art Deco stylings such as a ziggurat or stepped roofline, glass bricks, curved edges, and neon lighting.[3]
The show American Experience called Hohauser and
L. Murray Dixon the principal architects of Deco South Beach, including "streamlined curves, jutting towers, window "eyebrows," and neon." Such buildings were less expensive and less ornamented than those by
Carl Fisher, such as the
Flamingo (building) and "seemed perfectly suited to a city created for sun, sand, and relaxation."[4] His work was low cost in order to serve the middle class tourists. He designed more than 300 homes, apartment buildings, hotels, stores, restaurants and theaters.[5] Many now are protected by the Miami Art Deco Preservation Society's efforts, particularly the efforts of
Barbara Baer Capitman.
Work in Miami Beach
The Liberty Arm Hotel (1939), 236 21st Street in Miami Beach, renamed
South Beach Hotel
The Novick (1937), 610 Jefferson Avenue in Miami Beach
The Cardozo Hotel (1939), 1300 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
The Colony (1935), 736 Ocean Drive, one of the early buildings erected during the Art Deco renaissance
The Century Hotel (1939), 140 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
The Governor Hotel (1939), 435 21st Street in Miami Beach
The Park Central Hotel (1937), 640 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach
The Essex House Hotel (1938), 1001 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach
The Edison Hotel (1935), 960 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
The Crescent (1941), 1420 Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
The Davis (1941), formerly the Park Washington Resort, a collection of four hotels: the Davis, Taft, Belaire and Kenmore
Collins Plaza (1936), 318 20th Street in Miami Beach, renovated and renamed Riviera Suites
The Greystone Hotel (1939), 1920 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, renovated and renamed the Greystone Miami Beach