Miami’s DawnTown design competition is back a second time

DawnTown, the inventive Miami boosters who brought you Pulse, Texas architect Helen Pierce’s eye-popping proposal to disguise the ugly sewage pump station on Biscayne Boulevard with a tentacley, writhing orange blob – surely you remember that -- are back for a second assault (I mean that in the very best way) on the senses.

The target for the 2009 architectural competition: The long-closed Metromover station at Bicentennial Park, which would reopen once the planned new Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum are completed in what is to be Museum Park. The station is hardly the aromatic eyesore the pump station is. But DawnTown maven Andrew Frey and his merry co-conspirators thought it a bit drab given the architectural dazzle that is soon to be deposited at its foot. 

So they solicited proposals worldwide for a new station. Registration closed on Wednesday. Like last year, it’s drawn lots of interest. The website, www.dawntown.org, received more than 18,000 unique visitors and scores of designers registered. Entries are due Oct. 28.

The unveiling of the winner, timed for Art Basel Miami Beach, will be Dec. 4 at the Marquis, the condo tower across the street from the park. The keynote speaker is a coup: Star-quality Dutch landscape designer Adriaan Geuze, whose firm, West 8, recently snagged the high-profile job to design a companion park to the New World Symphony’s new concert hall by Frank Gehry. West 8 took over the park job from Gehry, who walked away from it -- no pressure for Geuze’s team, though.

On the competition jury, among other luminaries, is Miami-Dade Transit chief Harpal Kapoor. Does that mean something could actually come of this?

(Note: I originally had the wrong date for the awards above. Dec. 4 is the right date. My apologies.)