With less than two weeks before the close of registrations in the Flinders Street Station Design Competition, the Victorian Government has hinted of significant interest from international architectural designers.
Minister for Major Projects, Dr Denis Napthine, said that although the exact number of registrations cannot be revealed for probity reasons the Victorian Coalition Government was delighted with the response so far.
“Between the opening of registrations on 29 June and 17 July, the Flinders Street Station Design Competition web page has had more than 31,000 page views,” Napthine said.
“The competition Design Brief has been downloaded nearly 3,000 times while more than 1,300 people have downloaded the registration form.
“The majority of visits to date have come from Australia (4,691) followed by the United States (601), the United Kingdom (424), Spain (180), Germany (161), Italy (136), France (122), China (109), Canada (97) and Poland (95).
“The bulk of visits are from within Australia where the building has the most interest, but we can assume that most of the people visiting from overseas are doing so because they are considering entering the competition,” Napthine said.
“Our aim was to run a competition with international appeal and I think on the basis of these statistics we can say we are well on our way to achieving that goal,” Napthine said.
Napthine said by making the first stage one where broad design concepts are called for, the competition is made more accessible to a wider range of designers.
“Architectural competitions are a great way for new and emerging architects to get exposure so I am hoping that the high profile of the competition, the significant prize pool and the outstanding international jury will encourage them to sign up,” Napthine said.
Registrations close at 2pm (AEST) on Wednesday 1 August with Stage 1 submissions due by Thursday 20 September 2012.
