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CAPITheticAL: A Design Ideas Competition for a Hypothetical Australian Capital City

Sponsor: ACT Government
Type: Open, international, ideas
Location: Canberra, Australia
Language: English
Fee: Free
Eligibility: Open to individuals and collaborative design teams of professionals, students and recent graduates in architecture, planning, engineering, landscape architecture, urban design, as well as artists, environmentalists and other suitably qualified design professionals who have a passion for cities and urban culture.
Timetable:
August 30, 2011 – Deadline for questions
September 30 – Responses to questtions posted on website
January 31, 2012 – Stage 1 submissions deadline
May 23 2012 – Short-listed submissions announced
November 30 2012 – Stage 2 submissions due
March 2013 – Prize winners announced
Awards:
More than $100,000 has been provided for prizes in the competition.
The first prize will be to the minimum value of $70,000.
Design students are encouraged to enter the competition, individually or in groups, and the Jury may award a student prize with a value of up to $10,000 where high quality submissions are received from design students.
Additional jury prizes, commendations or honourable mentions may be awarded to submissions of high quality.
Jury:
Professor Alastair Swayn – ACT Government Architect
Professor Barbara Norman – University of Canberra
Councillor John McInerney – Architect and Town Planner
Dr. Catherine Bull – Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Melbourne
Calum Morton – Architect
Competition Ambassadore Michael Bryce – Architect
Design Challenge:
Between Federation in 1901 and the selection of the national capital site in 1908, various pressures particular to the concerns and conditions of the time influenced Canberra’s establishment and growth. Today, those ‘pressures’ seem less compelling.This competition, a hypothetical, invites participants to re-imagine the task faced by those whose job it was to decide how the capital would be created. What kinds of pressures and influences would there be if the city were being planned today?
  • Are there relevant security concerns that would influence the location and design of a national capital today?
  • Can the design and location of a city influence clarity, compassion and productivity in the thinking of Governments and political representatives?
  • What influence would climate change have?
  • Can the design of a city influence the life and work of its residents?
Submission Requirements:
1. A design submission in the chosen format which contains sufficient detail to fully explain the entry to the Jury and the public attending the exhibition.
2. The entry should demonstrate knowledge of the debates, influences and processes that led to the competition for the design of Canberra as Australia’s national capital. This demonstration may be written or presented graphically or may be a combination of presentation media.
For more information, go to: http://www.capithetical.com.au/
Email: info@capithetical.com.au