A number of architecture studios have posted their entries in the Flinders Street Station Design Competition online, sidestepping the official line to withhold displaying any of the proposed concepts until later next year.

The $1 million international Flinders Street Station precinct design competition was launched last year to attract the world’s best architects to Melbourne.

The winning design is to restore and reinvigorate the iconic Flinders Street Station precinct, including the station concourse, platforms and historic administration building and through to the Banana Alley Vaults and Queensbridge.

The shortlist was recently announced, with six selected from the total of 118 designs lodged.

However Major Projects Victoria is not displaying any entries to the public and it is not expected to until mid-2013, when the next stage of the proposal deadlines concludes.

The majority on the shortlist are leading Australian firms teamed up with big international names, including Hassell + Herzog & De Meuron; BVN and Zaha Hadid; and John Wardle Architects + Grimshaw.

Most of the entries came from Australia, Victoria in particular, and a number of those that were not shortlisted took part in an unofficial exhibition in Fitzroy of 30 non-shortlisted entries on 22 November.

Some of the studios which are not happy to see that their hard work is not being publicised have published their entries on their own websites (see links below).

Crikey blogger Alan Davies has criticised the selection process and called on Major Projects Victoria to make public the judges report explaining not only why the other 111 missed out on being shortlisted.

Davies describes the interesting work of some of the design teams that didn’t make the shortlist and have decided to display their disregarded entries.

That handful includes:

An entry from the Steve Rose Architect collaboration with Mihaly Slocombe and Foong + Sormann.

From the Andrew Burns Architect's entry.

The competiton shortlisted designers are: (listed in order of registration)

Ashton Raggatt McDougall (Melbourne)
John Wardle Architects + Grimshaw (Australia and UK)
HASSELL + Herzog & de Meuron (Melbourne and Switzerland)
NH Architecture (Melbourne)
Eduardo Velasquez + Manuel Pineda + Santiago Medina (Columbia via University of Melbourne)
Zaha Hadid Architecture & BVN Architecture (UK and Melbourne) (see attachment for further information on shortlisted competitors)

The shortlisted entrants now have six months to develop their ideas and attend various technical briefings and workshops before Stage 2 of the competition closes on 4 July 2013.

David Wheeldon

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