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NEWS
Thomas Heatherwick wins lifetime achievement prize at Disruptive Innovation Awards
POSTED 07 Apr 2016 . BY Kim Megson
Disruptor Award winners are chosen for building new business models 'and smashing broken ones' Credit: Red Maxwell
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."

RELATED STORIES
  Heatherwick's Garden Bridge moves closer to reality as engineers appointed


Plans to build Thomas Heatherwick’s plant-covered Garden Bridge on London’s River Thames have moved a step closer to reality after the trust developing the project agreed a construction contract.
  Tree-topped mountains the inspiration for Heatherwick’s Shanghai design


Heatherwick Studio has designed a vast mountain-inspired mixed-use development to be located next to Shanghai’s arts district.
  Thomas Heatherwick's King's Cross plaza to open by 2018


A mixed-use piazza designed by Heatherwick Studio for London’s King’s Cross has been given the green light.
  Heatherwick Studio to lead US$500m redesign of New York concert hall


Following a two-year competition involving more than 100 leading architecture and design firms, Heatherwick Studio and Diamond Schmitt Architects have been selected to reimagine and renovate a concert hall for New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
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NEWS
Thomas Heatherwick wins lifetime achievement prize at Disruptive Innovation Awards
POSTED 07 Apr 2016 . BY Kim Megson
Disruptor Award winners are chosen for building new business models 'and smashing broken ones' Credit: Red Maxwell
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."

RELATED STORIES
Heatherwick's Garden Bridge moves closer to reality as engineers appointed


Plans to build Thomas Heatherwick’s plant-covered Garden Bridge on London’s River Thames have moved a step closer to reality after the trust developing the project agreed a construction contract.
Tree-topped mountains the inspiration for Heatherwick’s Shanghai design


Heatherwick Studio has designed a vast mountain-inspired mixed-use development to be located next to Shanghai’s arts district.
Thomas Heatherwick's King's Cross plaza to open by 2018


A mixed-use piazza designed by Heatherwick Studio for London’s King’s Cross has been given the green light.
Heatherwick Studio to lead US$500m redesign of New York concert hall


Following a two-year competition involving more than 100 leading architecture and design firms, Heatherwick Studio and Diamond Schmitt Architects have been selected to reimagine and renovate a concert hall for New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
MORE NEWS
Almost half of spa survey respondents are unaware cancer is a disability and not adapting treatments is discrimination
A recent survey by the UK Spa Association (UKSA) into the industry’s approach to cancer care has revealed that almost half of participating respondents (46 per cent) are unaware that cancer is a disability and guests with a cancer diagnosis must be given
Solmar Hotels and Resorts offers Temazcal ceremony for Global Wellness Day
Mexican operator, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, is hosting a series of events in celebration of Global Wellness Day, including a Temazcal ceremony at its Playa Grande Resort and Spa in Los Cabos.
Mandarin Oriental announces standalone Mansions-branded residences for Abu Dhabi
Mandarin Oriental has announced a standalone residence brand, Mansions, which will debut at Emirates Palace, Mandarin Oriental Mansions, Abu Dhabi, in 2029.
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Savutuvan Apaja, Haapaniemi, Finland
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Hotel Cascais Miragem Health & Spa, Portugal
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ADVERTISE . CONTACT US

Leisure Media
Tel: +44 (0)1462 431385

©Cybertrek 2026

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