This talk examines the phenomenon of “Florida Orientalism,” a process beginning in the late 19th century in which the US southeast became an othered space, an ersatz Orient for Americans to visit. I discuss how a unique set of circumstances in the state of Florida—expansion of transit networks, mass migration and tourism, and a settler-colonial tradition available for exoticization—led to a proliferation of architecture looking to the Islamic Mediterranean and South Asia. In this presentation, I argue that these buildings decked out with domes, minarets, and horseshoe arches are instrumental in understanding how the Sunshine State became a land of fantasy and entertainment well before Walt Disney set his sights on Orlando.
Emily Neumeier is Assistant Professor of Islamic art and architecture in the Department of Art History at Temple University. Her current research on Orientalist architecture in the United States has been supported by a fellowship from the Society of Architectural Historians. Other projects include a forthcoming book project that presents a history of Ottoman architectural patronage from the borderlands of empire during the Age of Revolutions. Neumeier is also co-editing a volume on Hagia Sophia in the long 19th century with Benjamin Anderson.
