The shortlisted finalists in the CAPITheticAL international design competition have been announced at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House in Canberra.

One hundred years after the original call for design entries for Australia’s capital city, CAPITheticAL asked the world’s best student and professional designers to imagine how an Australian national capital might look if created today.

Over 1200 registrations were received from a range of practitioners: architects, urban planners, environmentalists and artists among them.

Reflecting the far reaching, international scope of registrations, the shortlist comprises entrants from all over Australia and the world, making CAPITheticAL an international celebration of Canberra.

The shortlisted finalists are:

· Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC) (Perth)

· Brit Andresen and Mara Francis (Brisbane)

· Dirk Bolt (Scotland)

· Daniel Spence and Kristina Sahleström (Sydney and Sweden)

· Douglas Muir (Canada)

· DRAFT — Helen Norrie, Jenna Rowe and Elizabeth Walsh (Tasmania)

· Ecoscape (Fremantle)

· The Engagement Studio (Melbourne)

· Dr Paola Favaro and Team (Sydney and International)

· Gareth Cotter (UK)

· Jones Sonter Architects (Sydney)

· John Kurko (Gold Coast)

· Kate Dickinson and Annabel Koeck (Sydney)

· ParTri — Tony Lam, Vahid Tehrani and Liam Filson (Sydney)

· MHBC — Armando Lopes, Eldon Theodore and Mackenzie Keast (Canada)

· Manasi S Satbhai (India)

· MUDD (Sydney and International)

· Philip Etchells (UK)

· Sarah Herbert (Canberra)

· Samson Tiew and Beatrice Toh (Melbourne via Malaysia)

The jury (Dr Catherin Bull AM, Councillor John McInerney, Callum Morton, Professor Barbara Norman and Professor Alastair Swayn) selected the finalists from a pool of 41 student entries and 73 open category entries. Entries were received from 24 different countries, including the United States, Canada, Scotland and the United Kingdom and New Zealand, as well as throughout Europe — including France, Germany, Italy, Greece and Russia — and throughout Asia and the Middle East, including China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

In addition, 74 entries were received from Australian participants, including seven entries from Canberra.

For the next stage, the shortlisted finalists are expected to deliver final submissions in November, with winning entries to be announced and exhibited from February to April 2013 to coincide with Canberra’s 100th birthday.

Up to $100,000 worth of prizes will be shared among the final winners of the competition, with a first prize valued at up to $70,000 to be awarded.

CAPITheticAL is a Centenary of Canberra project, proudly supported by the ACT Government and the Australian Government and administered by the Australian Institute of Architects.

For more information on the competition, visit www.capithetical.com.au.