Radical Innovation Announces 2022 Winners
Aera Vertical Resort, Designed by OBMI Wins Grand Prize, awarded $10,000
NEW YORK, NY – On October 18th, industry thought leaders, designers, architects, and real estate moguls gathered at the members-only Classic Car Club Manhattan for the 16th Annual Radical Innovation award ceremony and dinner. Eran Chen, Founding Principal and Executive Director of ODA Architecture and Design led the evening as the Master of Ceremonies, alongside Founder, John Hardy, and the esteemed jury.
The three finalists, previously selected by the Design Jury flew from around the world to New York City to compete live. The presentations had audience members sitting on the edge of their seats, followed by a “shark-tank-style” question and answer session about the creativity of their vision, feasibility, and potential to impact the industry. The live audience votes were combined with the hundreds of public votes submitted the week prior, to determine the winner of the $10,000 grand-prize and $5,000 runner-up.
Aera Vertical Resort, Designed by OBMI, the global architecture, master planning and hospitality design powerhouse took home the grand prize. Eco-Floating Hotel by Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio was first runner-up, and Hositality Concept-Merani by Contesi Design Company placed second runner-up. Project Details below.
In addition, the prestigious jury selected student design winner, Shopping and Camping, by Kseniya Krepkogorskaya & Danil Nazarov to earn $1,500, and the opportunity for an Assistantship to The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Masters Architectural Program, a Teaching Assistantship to the University of Illinois School of Architecture, or a partial of full scholarship from the NYUSPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality.
Alongside the design winners, The Radical Innovation Product Jury awarded one student finalist and one professional finalist for their forward-thinking and practical products. Winners are listed below.
The Design Jury: Claude Amar, Managing Director, The Hardy Group International; Ellen Brown, EVP, Fulcrum Hospitality; Mark Friesen, Principal, Beyer Brown & Assoc.; John Hardy, President/CEO, The Hardy Group; Michael Medzigian, Chairman and Managing Partner, Watermark Lodging Trust; Simon Turner, Managing Director, Alpha Lodging Partners; James Woods, WeWork Capital Advisors; and Honorary Guest Juror, Damien Perrot, ACCOR.
The Product Jury: Claude Amar, Managing Director, The Hardy Group International; Dan Dobin, Valley Forge Fabrics; Mark Friesen, Principal, Beyer Brown & Assoc.; John Hardy, President/CEO, The Hardy Group; Isaac Kubryk, Global Allies; Vito Lotta, Hilton.
Radical Innovation is produced by The Hardy Group with support from sponsoring companies, Beyer Brown & Associates, Chartres Lodging Group, Continental Contractors, DFL Legal, Hospitality Logistics, Shawmut, as well as our Education Partners, UNLV School of Architecture, UNLV BlackFire Innovation, the University of Illinois School of Architecture, NYUSPS Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, and 2022 media partner Sleeper.
PROFFESSIONAL DESIGN GRAND PRIZE WINNER
AERA | OBM International | Timothy Peck | United States
To redefine luxury hospitality, OBMI's team of designers from across the globe created a revolutionary concept, a vertical resort, Aera. Innovating to develop a new model for urban tourism, the team reimagined the horizontal guest journey found in traditional resorts to create a vertical destination in the middle of a city. Aera is the world’s first vertical resort that captures every resort amenity in an entirely new way. The concept embodies the same “unplugged” escape that one finds on a private island without leaving a city’s epicenter – marrying relaxation, convenience, and connectedness.
2022 PROFFESSIONAL DESIGN FIRST RUNNER-UP
Eco-Floating Hotel | Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio | Hayri Atak | Turkey
The eco-floating hotel is inspired by the sea with which it is associated in the first degree in terms of form and design principle. At this point, it is worth to mention that the project will work efficiently in areas where there is a continuous and certain flow. However, the sea which gives the structure physical and tangible power and receives the return it needs in a mutualistic form also directs the shape of the structure with the idea of the vortex.
2022 PROFFESSIONAL DESIGN SECOND RUNNER-UP
Hospitality Concept-Merani | Contesi Design Company| Luca Contesi | Georgia
The Concept "Merani" is not Flying Tourism and neither a Flying hotel. A hotel can be easily removed without any ecological damage as a consequence of its presence, accompanying guests during their journey/stay - on Land, in the Air and on the Water. The operation system of HC “Merani” is rather simple: a cargo airship, instead of ISO-containers, carries one detachable Mini Hotel. With an ability to take off and land anywhere an airship can carry the hotel, with guests to places that are really off the tourist beaten track.
2022 STUDENT DESIGN WINNER
Shopping & Camping | TIArch Kazan State University of Architecture & Engineering| Kseniya Krepkogorskaya & Danil Nazarov | Russia
Many supermarkets around the world have huge unused roofs. We propose a solution to this problem by landscaping and improving the roof and creating an entertainment and glamping site on the roof of the supermarket in our project. Thus, we are rethinking the traditional type of city hotel. In addition to accommodations, the “campsite” includes green areas, a cinema, and an open-air swimming pool, which makes staying at the venue even more exciting and attractive to visitors. Kseniya and Danil were mentored by Ilnar Akhtiamov and Rezeda Akhtiamova.
2022 PRODUCT WINNERS
PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT WINNER
Follow Me | Ocean Builders | Grant Romundt, Omer Larranaga & Sergio Ramirez | Panama
Follow Me is a technology that was designed to make the tedious tasks that we face in our lives a little easier. You will have an NFC smart ring or another NFC-enabled device that will automatically configure any compatible smart home devices in the home or room to your settings as soon as you walk in.
You can also make a wake-up routine that will open the shades, simulate a sunrise with the lights, start the coffee maker, adjust the temperature, and turn on the music automatically at whatever time you pick. Or it can go in reverse when you go to sleep. Our NFC smart ring allows you to wave it over hidden sensors that will act like a switch or button. This technology could be used in hotels and resorts so that your preferred settings will always be automatically applied, no matter where you are in the world so that your sleep routine is not disrupted when you travel.
STUDENT PRODUCT WINNER
BSR+ | Ming Chi University of Technology | Yu-Chieh Chien | Taiwan
BSR+ is a towel rack with the functions of air purification and UV disinfection. BSR+ can not only dry towels, but also disinfect them, to improve the germs caused by damp towels and cause the infection of viruses and bacteria. BSR+ uses micro turbine to introduce and purify air, which can increase air flow and make towels dry quickly. The ultraviolet (UV) lamp can disinfect the towel and slow down the growth of mold. Through the operation of power regulation, the bathroom space can maintain air circulation to achieve the drying and disinfection of the whole room.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Urban Air Mobility | AERO Ai | Osarodion“Victory” Igbinobaro | USA
As room service is slowly replaced by Uber Eats, and traditional car traffic slows those orders, this project envisions drone delivery of everything from food to medicine, to luxury items satisfying guests' needs. Fast forward a few more years, and drones for transportation can be a part of the programming of integrated resorts. Each of these constitutes a different design change for resort architecture.
Just as these mega-structures have evolved with our relationship to the car: valet, parking garage, ride-share lanes, drones as part of business operations would influence new forms of receiving/loading docks, concierge services, security, passenger queuing, and more. This project analyzes multiple sites for vertiport feasibility along Las Vegas Boulevard provides a starting point for the largest hospitality properties in the world to plan for a drone-driven tourist experience
About Radical Innovation
Radical Innovation challenges the hotel industry to elevate the guest experience by calling for new ideas in design and operations. Each year, submissions are received and reviewed by a jury of hotel insiders. Select finalists present their concepts in front of industry influencers and investors during a live event where the audience votes to determine the winner. Since its founding, Radical Innovation has awarded over $200,000 to progressive architectural and hospitality-minded thinkers. www.Radicalinnovation.io
About The Hardy Group
The Hardy Group is the hospitality industry's premier resource for the execution of development projects of any type or size. Through decades of experience, HARDY provides certainty in execution to owners and investors that reduces risk, exceeds expectations, and enables investment plans to be completed on-time and on-budget. HARDY strives to provide leadership, honesty, and excellence to every assignment.
For over 31 years HARDY has led projects throughout the USA and Caribbean hospitality industries. Featuring a robust portfolio, including but not limited to, full-service hotels, select service hotels, resorts, and adaptive reuse properties. Leveraging its expertise, HARDY works on individual deals and entire portfolios, delivering project management, construction management, owner's representation, brand negotiation, project accounting and more. Tapping its diverse team, using proprietary project research and in-house budgeting software propels HARDY to the forefront of the industry. www.jhgi.com
Leah S. Blank
Director of Marketing
