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Aerial Photograph, 1965, from the Seaside Property Archives.
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PLAN 0, Survey and Topography Campanile & Associates Inc. March 1977. Note that the original name of the project was “Sea Grove” as it was conceived as an extension to the existing town of Sea Grove. The residents of Sea Grove denied that possibility and so the name “Seaside” WAS put forth.
The site is 80 acres located in Walton County in Northwestern Florida, adjacent to the settlement of Seagrove Beach. It straddles County Road 30-A and fronts 2300 feet of beach to the south.
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PLAN 1: Before Robert Davis approached Arquitectonica, he had commissioned a sketch from the Miami architect, Robert Altman. The plan was based on the then dominant paradigm of Sea Ranch, involving clusters of dwellings picturesquely arrayed and connected by paths and boardwalks. The band at the center approximately 300 feet wide, was to be the first phase. Note that Route 30A is not really addressed. Parking is in parking lots throughout. This plan was probably prepared in 1979.
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PLAN 2: The first plan by Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, then partners at Arquitectonica, involved only the central band. This plan was influenced by the then ascended paradigm of O.M.A., specifically the plan for London, wherein each sector or box would be intensely of a character not reconciled with the adjacent one. On the beach sector would be the classic exedra of beach cottages. The parking would be comprehensibly handled by a parking lot adjacent to 30A, in the car sector. The downtown sector consists of four blocks, with virtually no commercial; one block being a conference center, another a square, a third an outdoor auditorium, and a fourth a pool and a clubhouse. There is a canal running in cross- axis and intending to connect to future development on either side through a pedestrian paths and pond. The suburban sector consists of houses on a diagrammatic, curvilinear path, pinned on a straight service road (going south) terminated in a water tank. There was a nascent transect in this plan. This plan was prepared in 1979.
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PLAN 3: Arquitectonica c. 1979.
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The given program calls for a new vacation resort of 350 dwellings of different types, 100-200 units of lodging, a retail center, a conference facility and a recreation complex.
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PLAN 4, with commercial and civic buildings drawn: the layout of the town hall is now finalized. This plan preceded Léon Krier’s intervention, which added the ‘Krier-walks.’ Note the small exedras at the beachfront. Note also the existence of the varying footprints of the beachfront pavilions. This is their first appearance. The chapel is now placed, but not what became Ruskin Square.
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Léon Krier’s Plan, a critique based on the DPZ plan, The text says the following: “This plan shows some amendments to the original sea-side plan — in the details of urban layout (Blocks and Spaces) proposed by LK in Jan 1983 after discussion with Davis and Duany at SeaSide in Nov 1982.”
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PLAN 4-5: Pencil sketch over site plan, showing the comprehensive insertion of the ‘Krier-walks’ and Krier’s idea for Ruskin Square on the central axis. Also note the connector to the lake, and the final version of the area around the town center. Drawing by Andrés Duany.
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PLAN 5: This is the final plan, the first that was formally drafted, together with a set of diagrams, that comprehensibly explained all aspects of Seaside. This plan shows all property lines as well as streets and the ‘Krier-walks’ No Ruskin Square in its final form. However, the lots south of 30A are yet to be modified.
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PLAN 5, ILLUSTRATIVE PLAN: Definition of Civic Spaces. This was the first colored drawing of the Seaside plan. The watercolor was prepared by Rolando Llanes, then a student at the University of Miami. It was used for years in the sales campaign.
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PLAN 5, ILLUSTRATIVE PLAN: Seaside as-built circa 2005, prepared by Eusebio Azcue of DPZ. Note Sea Grove to the east and Watercolor to the west and north.
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Aerial Photograph, 2010, Copyright Alex MacClean, from the Seaside Archives at Notre Dame. This photograph has been altered to correct for perspective.