Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park wins top landscape architecture prize
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London has won the Rosa Barba International Landscape Prize; one of world’s leading awards for landscape architects.
The park's designers, Hargreaves Associates, were named the winners of the €15,000 accolade following the decision of a jury chaired by James Corner; one of the creator’s of New York’s High Line elevated park.
The competition was organised by the Architects’ Association of Catalonia and the Catalan University as part of the ninth Barcelona International Biennial of Landscape Architecture.
Three hundred projects were considered for the prize, with the judges whittling submissions down to a final shortlist of 10. The runners-up included Sydney’s Goods Line park by Sacha Coles and Aspect Studio, and the urban reforestation of Bangkok by Tawatchai Kobkaikit and Wannapin Boontarika.
Speaking to CLAD, Corner praised the Olympic Park project for “creating beautiful experiences” for visitors.
“What distinguished this project is its breadth,” he said. “It's not just landscape as ‘landscape’ – in terms of what people would expect with earth and water and vegetation. It’s more than that. It’s tied into infrastructure, transportation and urban development. So that range and scope – tied into the fact it’s a beautifully designed, sculptural, muscular park with extraordinary horticultural design – is why it's the winner.”
The 274 acre park, divided into northern and southern sections, formed the centerpiece for the London 2012 Olympic Games. When it opened it became the largest new park created in Europe for over 150 years.
According to Hargreaves Associates, their design “synthesises centuries of British park tradition, the reality of post-industrial brownfields, advances in sustainability and resilience thinking to create a new type of park for the 21st Century.”
Explaining the purpose of the Rosa Barba prize and the wider biennial, which is themed ‘Tomorrow’s Landscapes’, the festival’s organisers said: “Our objective is to target the scope of contemporary landscape architecture research and professional practice to stir debate. In the context of climate change, personal or professional indifference is not an option. We will need to unlearn concepts, methods and attitudes.”
The final shortlist for the Rosa Barba prize was as follows:
• Yanweizhou Park in Jinhua, (China), by Kongjian Yu, Turenscape
• The Goods Line in Sydney (Australia), by Sacha Coles, ASPECT Studios
• Superkilen in Copenhagen (Denmark), by Martin Rein-Cano and Lorenz Dexler, Topotek1
• Renaturation de l’Aire in Confignon (Switzerland), by Georges Descombes, Julien Descombes and Marco Rampini, Atelier Descombes Rampini
• Barangaroo Reserve in Sydney (Australia), by Peter Walker, David Walker, Jay Swaintek and Doug Findlay, PWP Landscape
• River Forest Island in Changsha (China), by Xiao Zheng and Sean O'Malley, SWA group;
• The Metro-Forest Project: Bangkok Urban Reforestation in Bangkok (Thailand), by Tawatchai Kobkaikit and Wannapin Boontarika, Landscape Architects of Bangkok
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London (UK) by George Hargreaves, Mary Margaret Jones, Gavin McMillan, Hargreaves Associates
• Musée Parc Louvre Lens in Lens (France) by Catherine Mosbach, Mosbach Paysagistes
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park landscape architecture Rosa Barba design Barcelona Barcelona International Biennial of Landscape ArchitectureGoCo Health Innovation City in Sweden plans to lead the world in delivering wellness and new science
Aman sister brand Janu debuts in Tokyo with four-floor urban wellness retreat
€38m geothermal spa and leisure centre to revitalise Croatian city of Bjelovar
Two Santani eco-friendly wellness resorts coming to Oman, partnered with Omran Group
Kerzner shows confidence in its Siro wellness hotel concept, revealing plans to open 100
Ritz-Carlton, Portland unveils skyline spa inspired by unfolding petals of a rose
Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners are just one of the names behind The Emory hotel London and Surrenne private members club
Peninsula Hot Springs unveils AUS$11.7m sister site in Australian outback
IWBI creates WELL for residential programme to inspire healthy living environments
Conrad Orlando unveils water-inspired spa oasis amid billion-dollar Evermore Resort complex
Studio A+ realises striking urban hot springs retreat in China's Shanxi Province
Populous reveals plans for major e-sports arena in Saudi Arabia
Wake The Tiger launches new 1,000sq m expansion
Othership CEO envisions its urban bathhouses in every city in North America
Merlin teams up with Hasbro and Lego to create Peppa Pig experiences
SHA Wellness unveils highly-anticipated Mexico outpost
One&Only One Za’abeel opens in Dubai featuring striking design by Nikken Sekkei
Luxury spa hotel, Calcot Manor, creates new Grain Store health club
'World's largest' indoor ski centre by 10 Design slated to open in 2025
Murrayshall Country Estate awarded planning permission for multi-million-pound spa and leisure centre
Aman's Janu hotel by Pelli Clarke & Partners will have 4,000sq m of wellness space
Therme Group confirms Incheon Golden Harbor location for South Korean wellbeing resort
Universal Studios eyes the UK for first European resort
King of Bhutan unveils masterplan for Mindfulness City, designed by BIG, Arup and Cistri
Rural locations are the next frontier for expansion for the health club sector
Tonik Associates designs new suburban model for high-end Third Space health and wellness club
Aman sister brand Janu launching in Tokyo in 2024 with design by Denniston's Jean-Michel Gathy
The Peninsula London unveils Peter Marino-designed spa inspired by London’s famous parks
First glimpses revealed of Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair's subterranean spa retreat
"Architecture is alive" says Ma Yansong, as Shenzhen art museum opens exhibition showcasing work of MAD Architects
Three years after Pegasus Capital bought Six Senses, how close is the private equity firm to realising its goals for its first spa and hospitality investment? Pegasus’ founder Craig Cogut tells us what’s been achieved and what comes next