In South Florida, it’s simple to mistake spectacle for structure. This nook of the state has by no means been brief on homes that preen for the water, pose for the drone shot, or borrow some vaguely Mediterranean fantasy that might simply as simply belong in Scottsdale, Arizona, as alongside the Intracoastal.
Max Strang has spent a lot of his profession pushing in the other way. His houses are undeniably dramatic, however their drama comes with goal: shade, airflow, privateness, construction, elevation, and resilience. In a area the place design can usually really feel imported, Strang’s work reads as one thing rarer — structure that might solely have come from proper right here.
That sensibility has made the Miami-based architect one of many state’s defining design voices. This 12 months additionally marks the twenty fifth anniversary of his Coconut Grove–headquartered agency, STRANG, which was named AIA Florida’s 2025 Agency of the 12 months. But in the event you ask Strang the place issues stand in 2026, he sounds much less desirous about celebration than in what comes subsequent.
The waterfront proprietor’s suite on this Higher Keys residence pairs floor-to-ceiling glass with board-formed concrete, framing uninterrupted views of the Atlantic. Photograph by Kris Tamburello
“We nonetheless really feel like we’re simply getting began,” he advised Way of life.
That drive is sensible for somebody whose design worldview was formed as a lot by childhood reminiscence as by formal coaching. Strang grew up in Florida in a Gene Leedy–designed household residence in Winter Haven, immersed early within the concepts of the Sarasota College, the place structure was site-driven, climate-driven, and deeply regional. Later got here the College of Florida, graduate college at Columbia, and formative experiences that broadened his perspective with out severing the unique thread. What endured was a perception that structure right here ought to collaborate with the panorama quite than fight it.
Strang calls his strategy “environmental modernism,” and the phrase resonates as a result of it’s not empty branding. “We actually respect the South Florida local weather and geography,” he mentioned. “I feel an vital a part of structure is to make use of native supplies.” That may imply oolite or keystone in Miami, heat woods that stand up to the weather, or concrete dealt with in a manner that feels tactile quite than extreme. Strang speaks with explicit conviction about “actual supplies” — stone, sustainably sourced wooden, and textured concrete — and the way they lend a house each authenticity and permanence.
That spotlight to materials can be what offers his initiatives their sense of place. His homes don’t merely sit in lush settings — they appear to belong to them. They body banyans and river bends, filter mild by way of vertical fins, and switch shade right into a luxurious quite than an afterthought.
Few initiatives seize that higher than the Tuckman residence on Fort Lauderdale’s New River, one in every of Strang’s most recognizable works in Broward County. He calls it noteworthy as a result of it marked the primary time his agency used a curve in a challenge, a gesture pushed by the location and its views. However its actual energy lies in how its boldness doubles as efficiency. The house’s vertical fins, Strang famous, do greater than outline the façade. They supply privateness, assist with drainage, and, in some instances, contribute structurally.
“The identification of the house is related to the efficiency of the constructing,” he mentioned.
Tuckman Residence: A hanging cantilevered residence in Fort Lauderdale, the place modernist strains meet old-growth oaks. Photograph by Claudio Manzoni
That philosophy additionally shapes one of many agency’s more moderen works, the Van der Vlugt Residence within the Florida Keys. Elevated above the panorama, the house embraces a palette of pure stone, concrete, and wooden whereas responding on to the realities of coastal dwelling.
“It’s lifted up off the bottom,” Strang defined. “One, for hurricane storm surges. Two, for sea-level rise. And three, as a result of it permits us to create some very fascinating areas beneath.”
The result’s a construction that feels fashionable and elemental, balancing sturdiness with heat whereas acknowledging the environmental realities of the Keys.
The identical ethos runs by way of one other defining challenge: the Rock Home in Coconut Grove, arguably the work that first positioned Strang on the architectural map. Accomplished in 2004 as his circle of relatives residence, the residence distilled influences from the Sarasota College, tropical modernism, and Miami’s geology right into a home that felt each primal and refined. It later grew to become well known after showing in Michael Mann’s Miami Vice as a drug lord’s lair, additional cementing its lore.
The steel-and-stone Rock Home in Coconut Grove, a dramatic early work that put the architect on the map. Photograph by Claudio Manzoni
There’s additionally an evolution seen throughout Strang’s physique of labor. Earlier initiatives leaned closely into stone and structural expression. Later ones sharpened into frames and fins, quieter and extra disciplined however no much less responsive. That development mirrors a broader maturation in Florida structure itself.
“There’s a whole lot of consideration on South Florida now,” Strang mentioned, noting the inflow of worldwide companies working from Palm Seaside to Miami. He sees that competitors as a optimistic — proof that the area has moved to the forefront of the worldwide design dialog. And but what makes Strang particularly compelling on this second just isn’t that he’s relentlessly pursuing worldwide relevance. It’s that he has stayed rooted in the concept Florida already accommodates its personal architectural language. His agency, now comprised of a 50-person multidisciplinary staff with initiatives throughout the Caribbean, in Utah, and even Dubai, has the size to work far exterior the state. However the perfect of Strang’s work nonetheless feels inseparable from this place.
Which may be why his homes resonate so strongly proper now. As extra householders search areas which can be livable, resilient, and related to their environment, Strang’s work seems like a blueprint for the place Florida dwelling is headed. His structure is fashionable, however by no means placeless.
The steel-and-stone Rock Home in Coconut Grove, a dramatic early work that put the architect on the map. Photograph by Claudio Manzoni
