Sasaki
Sasaki is excited to announce that five projects were honored in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards for 2021. Each was named an Honorable Mention in their respective categories: Hongkou Stadium for Sports and Recreation; Praderas New Community for Best Design Latin America; Lakeview Village and Ho Chi Minh City Resiliency for Cities; and Xinyang University South Bay Campus for Learning.
The 10th anniversary of the awards, which can be found in the October 2021 issue of Fast Company, recognizes people, teams, and companies that transform businesses, organizations, and society through design. One of the most sought-after design awards in the industry, Innovation by Design is the only competition to honor creative work at the intersection of design, business, and innovation, recognizing the people, companies, and trends that have steadily advanced design to the forefront of the business conversation.
Read on for more information about each project.
Hongkou Stadium was China’s first professional soccer stadium. Built in the 1990s as a single purpose structure, its transformation repositions the stadium at the center of a new mixed-use health and wellness hub. One of the most significant interventions is the creation of the Midline—an elevated park built upon the infrastructure of the adjacent elevated light rail corridor. The Midline provides uninterrupted pedestrian and bicycle access, and links surrounding neighborhoods with community recreational uses within the stadium.
Hongkou Stadium, Honorable Mention, Sports and Recreation category
Praderas creates a new paradigm in urban development in Chile and Latin America. While new communities in the region are typically single-use, gated and socially segregated, Praderas establishes a new model of integrated living. The larger natural setting of Praderas, combined with strategies around sustainable infrastructure that responds to air flow, sunlight and water conservation all support a healthy built environment.
Praderas New Community, Honorable Mention, Best Design Latin America category
Lakeview Village is a transformational project for Canada. As a brownfield development, the 177-acre site will become a highly connected and diverse mixed-use community on the shore of Lake Ontario. For the last half of the 20th century it was home to a large polluting coal-fired power plant. The new district will include a diverse mix of household types, commercial areas, a 1.6 million square feet Innovation District, retail, an urban school site, and 50 acres of parks connecting to a regional green network.
 Lakeview Village, Honorable Mention, Cities category
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)—Vietnam’s economic hub and center of innovation—is listed as one of most vulnerable cities to sea level rise, coastal flooding, and pollution. After a nearly two decade long engagement with the HCMC metro region, innovative planning and design strategies are emerging to address these vulnerabilities. Partnerships between government agencies and private developers illustrate an ongoing effort to foster urban resilience. A series of interrelated projects have introduced a landscape-centric approach to urban development, spanning scales from site to district to city.
Ho Chi Minh City Resiliency, Honorable Mention, Cities category
Xinyang University is an emerging leader in China’s private higher education sector. Its new South Bay campus will support 17,000 students in five liberal art schools situated in a scenic living-learning environment. The master plan integrates social, environmental, and educational ambitions to create an alternative model for higher education in China focusing on collaborative and experiential learning.
Xinyang University South Bay Campus, Honorable Mention, Learning category
Click here to see the full list of winners, finalists, and honorable mentions.
