Thomas Heatherwick wins lifetime achievement prize at Disruptive Innovation Awards
British designer Thomas Heatherwick will be presented with a lifetime achievement prize at the 2016 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards on 22 April.
The founder and design director of Heatherwick Studio – which has undertaken diverse projects including the cauldron for the 2012 London Olympics and a Bombay Sapphire gin distillery in Hampshire, UK, and has designed the highly controversial Garden Bridge in London – is being recognised for his “ingenuity, inventiveness and originality”.
The Disruptive Innovation Awards are an offshoot of the annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert DeNiro, and celebrate influential innovators in sports, education, media, design, philanthropy, economics, health care, civic engagement and social justice.
Previous winners have included film director David Lynch, musician Kanye West, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky and Kickstarter creators Perry Chen and Yancey Strickler.
Honourees – who receive a red hammer as the official Disruptor Award – are chosen for building new business models “and smashing broken ones”, in areas “desperately in need of innovation to help solve intractable problems.”
A citation explaining the choice of Heatherwick said: “Thomas defies the conventional classification of design disciplines. He founded Heatherwick Studio in 1994 to bring the practices of design, architecture, sculpture and urban planning together in a single workspace.
“Thomas’ unusual approach challenges every brief from first principles, to produce unique solutions for each project’s needs. In applying artistic thinking to the needs of modern cities, the team is engaged in creating some of the most acclaimed and memorable projects of our time.”
Other individuals awarded accolades this year include American actor and director Nate Parker and Kenyan conservationist and politician Richard Leakey, who is also being presented a lifetime achievement award. The awards ceremony will be held at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Lower Manhattan, New York.
"This year's honourees are a diverse group whose achievements lead by example uniting communities that are offering new solutions to some of society’s most challenging issues," said Craig Hatkoff, chief curator of the awards. "Disruptors represent a new kind of billionaire: innovators who have the potential to help a billion people."
Thomas Heatherwick lifetime achievement prize Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards Tribeca Film Festival designHeatherwick's Garden Bridge moves closer to reality as engineers appointed
Heatherwick’s Shanghai design inspired by tree-topped mountains
Thomas Heatherwick's King's Cross plaza to open by 2018
Heatherwick Studio to lead US$500m redesign of New York concert hall
Crucial beakthrough reached in London Garden Bridge funding stand-off
Heatherwick to design New York's 'Pier 55'
Bottoms up: Heatherwick’s Bombay Sapphire Distillery ready to go
Thomas Heatherwick to create new Art Museum in Cape Town, South Africa
Heatherwick's Olympic Cauldron to rise again at Museum of London
Plans revealed for Abu Dhabi sunken desert oasis by Heatherwick
FEATURE: Visitor Attractions – Spirit Maker


bbspa_Group to realise urban destination spa inside Sardinian football stadium

Thinkwell to deliver the world's first Play-Doh attractions in Saudi Arabia

Jayasom partners with Amaala to unveil multigenerational health resort in Saudi Arabia

OMA's Ellen van Loon is the visionary behind new cultural centre for Manchester

James Corner Field Operations creates Highline for London

Esbjerg’s landmark maritime center, designed by WERK Arkitekter and Snøhetta, opens to the public

SEVEN to open world’s first indoor Discovery Adventures centres in Saudi Arabia

Fun and fear drive new Universal attraction concepts for Texas and Las Vegas

Voelker Gray Design creates 10-acre hot springs wellness haven for Atlanta

AIDarchitecten create healing spa for Antwerp's Botanic Sanctuary

Hollaway Studio's Seahive would bring blue health to South-East England

SEVEN to invest US$13bn in developing entertainment destinations across Saudi Arabia

World Spa’s expansive 50,000sq ft urban bathhouse and wellness club opens in Brooklyn

Floating Salmon Eye visitor attraction by Kvorning Design highlights sustainable aquaculture

White Arkitekter's Wood Hotel in Skellefteå Swedish Lapland is climate positive and made from local timber

Nohlab's 'Everything' installation among Noor Riyadh festival highlights

Bob Iger's return to Disney sparks major restructuring focused on creativity and storytelling

Therme Group plans US$200m urban wellbeing resort in South Korea

Digital art installation in Nanjing helps the public keep an eye on exoplanets

First glimpses revealed of flagship Blue Zones Centre in Miami

Warner Bros. and Infinite Reality launch metaverse experiences for live sports fans

Storyland Studios' Nigeria's film city project will break ground in Q1 2023

Canyon Ranch preps for major expansion with new destinations in Austin, Fort Worth and Houston

WilkinsonEyre-designed Battersea Power Station development opens as leisure district following £9bn redevelopment

Healthy cities conference to discuss diversity and inclusivity in urban planning and design

Foster and Partners reveal design for sustainable marine life centre on the Red Sea

Anaheim's US$4bn ocV!BE project approved by planners

Construction marches ahead for Saudi giga-projects Amaala and The Red Sea

HBG Design behind Michigan’s six-storey Aquadome inspired by the sun’s path across the sky

Seventh International Museum Construction Congress to be held in Norway this year
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates