Art in “Blocks”: Sol LeWitt – Legit Miami

Right at the entrance of Miami’s Design District, two nearly unnoticed block towers mark the presence of Sol LeWitt (b. 1928, Hartford, Connecticut; d. 2007, New York City), one of the key figures in minimalist art, within the city’s landscape. Tower (Frankfurt) (1990) and Tower (Lodz) (1993), the titles of these works, were installed in 2017 as part of ICA Miami’s public sculpture program.

LeWitt’s structures stem from a modular development of the square and the cube, with no other intention than to add yet another object to the world. He was less interested in formal qualities than in the speculative significance of the physical presence of his work.

At twenty feet tall, LeWitt’s unadorned block towers don’t mimic the grand scale of Brickell’s skyscrapers, Miami’s financial hub. However, they offer a critical rebuttal to modernist architecture—a notable commentary in a city like Miami, where everything abounds except minimalist restraint.