Frank Gehry's proposed performance center design for the New World Symphony on Miami Beach.

A slew of new public buildings, a crowded real estate market with developers seeking an edge for projects and the city's growing reputation as an international center of art and design are attracting a wave of "starchitects" to Miami.

The list of celebrity architects whose designs attract worldwide attention includes Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, Cesar Pelli, Richard Meier, Bernard Tschumi and the team of Jacques Herzog and Pierre De Meuron.

Graves is designing a building for the University of Miami. Stern is designing one for Florida International University. And Herzog & De Meuron -- perhaps the world's most critically acclaimed firm today -- is designing a distinctive parking garage on Miami Beach and a new downtown home for the Miami Art Museum.

"Miami has always flirted with the big names," says Ari Millas, a professor who teaches the history of architecture at UM. "And right now we're getting them. It's great for a young city like ours."

Tourism officials are thrilled. The growing sophistication of Miami's design community, they say, is attracting high-end visitors. They expect Gehry's concert hall design to attract as many gawkers as concertgoers.
Millas sees a more lasting impact. "Despite Miami's flashy image, architecture here is very conservative. These new designs will give our own architects something really interesting to look at."