Varinot & Varinot Architectes, Aprilli Design Studio and Network of Architecture Will Compete for the Grand Prize in New York City in October
Radical Innovation, a competition and year-round community that challenges designers, hoteliers, and students to pioneer compelling ideas in travel and hospitality, is pleased to announce the finalists for its 12th annual edition.
The three finalists are: Aquaponic Experience Hotel by Varinot & Varinot Architectes (VVA), Paris; Autonomous Travel Suite by Aprilli Design Studio, Los Angeles; and Le Colline Incantate by Network of Architecture (NOA*), Bolzano, Italy. These three firms will compete in a live pitch presentation at the New Museum in New York City on October 3rd. After presentations, a live audience vote will be held to determine the grand-prize winner of $10,000 and the runner-up prize of $5,000. All of the finalists will have an opportunity to meet industry experts who can help further their concept.
Finalists were selected by a jury of hospitality and design experts: John Hardy, President/CEO, The John Hardy Group; Michael Medzigian, Chairman & Managing Partner, Watermark Capital Partners, LLC; Jena Thornton, LEED AP, Managing Director, Magnetic ERV; Simon Turner, Managing Director, Alpha Lodging Partners, LLC; James Woods, Head of WeLive, WeWork; Wing T. Chao, Founder, Wing T. Chao Global Advisors; and Claude Amar, Managing Director, The John Hardy Group International. The Radical Innovation jury selected the finalists based on creativity and design, as well as their potential feasibility and ability to impact the industry. Three professional finalists were chosen from an impressive selection of nearly 50 entries submitted from more than 20 countries.
In addition to the three professional finalists, the jury also selected one student winner from among the student entries. This year’s student winner is Room Extension Solution (RES) by Daniel Cryszczoń and Michał Witalis of Poland’s Cracow University of Technology. Both Daniel and Michał will join the professional finalists on-stage at the New Museum to present their tech-forward concept on October 3rd. They will receive a $1,500 cash prize and the opportunity to pursue a graduate assistantship in the Masters of Architecture program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, provided by long-time Radical Innovation supporter UNLV. The total two-year value is estimated at more than $50,000. In addition, the jury selected Dinh Tam from the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to receive an honorable mention for his ecological concept, The Floating Hotel.
Radical Innovation is produced by The John Hardy Group with support from founding sponsor Global Allies and official partner Sleeper magazine.
2018 PROFESSIONAL FINALISTS
AQUAPONIC EXPERIENCE HOTEL
VARINOT & VARINOT ARCHITECTES
PARIS
This hotel concept integrates an aquaponic system for a fully self-sufficient experience. Aquaponics is a symbiotic system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water. Inspired by this concept, Varinot & Varinot Architectes created a hotel that is designed to mirror this closed, vertical system where rainwater is continuously recycled throughout the hotel. Not only does the ecosystem reduce water consumption, but it also produces in efficient quantities. The sustainable hotel offers fresh fruits, fish and vegetables in the restaurant; flowers and herbs in the bedroom; and, seaweed to relax in the spa. The modular concept can be adapted to any city, depending on its individual needs and skyline restrictions.
AUTONOMOUS TRAVEL HOTEL
APRILLI DESIGN STUDIO
LOS ANGELES
The Autonomous Travel Suite integrates transportation and hospitality through a driverless, mobile suite offering door-to-door transportation service in between a traveler’s home and destination. Within a compact hotel room environment, the suite is equipped with basic sleeping, working and washroom functions, allowing guests to be most efficient and productive while optimizing travel time. Operated and maintained by the Autonomous Hotel Chain, once scheduled online or via mobile app, a customized unit is delivered to the traveler’s door and taken to a local Autonomous Hotel docking facility at the traveler’s destination, where the unit extends into a larger parent suite. Acting as both a personal rental car and hotel room, The Autonomous Travel Suite provides both a new way of traveling and an extension of the conventional hotel experience, from the minute a traveler steps out of their home.
LE COLLINE INCANTATE
NETWORK OF ARCHITECTURE (NOA*)
BOLZANO, ITALY
Intended to create a place of security and tranquility within the hills of Northern Italy, Le Colline Incantate is a retreat for single parents and their children facing a new family situation. The hotel provides its guests with comfortable zones and protected spaces. Designed within its landscape, NOA* decided to cover the entire structure with plants alongside waterways for distinct cross-ventilation that establishes a sustainable, comfortable, and consistent temperature throughout the complex without the need of thermal insulation. The architects worked alongside a psychologist to develop a program with several therapeutic proposals including specific rooms for individual and group sessions, communal group activities, and thoughtful evaluation plans all within an inviting environment.
2018 STUDENT WINNER
ROOM EXTENSION SOLUTION (RES)
DANIEL CZYSZCZOŃ & MICHAŁ WITALIS
CRACOW UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, POLAND
Utilizing autonomous vehicle technology, RES is a new concept that acts as a hotel room’s extension focused on optimizing travel time, navigation, comfort, safety, and efficiency. After stepping off of a flight, travelers will be met at arrivals with a quick check-in service for RES. Inside the mobile hotel room, guests will find a full-size bed, ample storage space for luggage with cabinets and small wardrobe, and a fully operational bathroom en route to the hotel structure and docking stations. Until the passenger leaves the hotel, the vehicle is part of the overall room. Combining autonomous transport with hospitality has the power to redefine the way we travel around the world.
2018 STUDENT HONORABLE MENTION
FLOATING HOTEL
DINH TAM
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE, VIETNAM
The Floating Hotel is built to encourage ecotourism. The model integrates local fishing culture and tourism in an eco-hotel. Equipped with fishing cages and efficient space for production, the hotel encourages its guests to experience and participate in farming first-hand. In a shared, sustainable, floating village, tourists and locals are joined to help develop services along the river community.
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 $150,000 to progressive architectural and hospitality-minded thinkers.
About The John Hardy Group
The John Hardy Group is a strategic, transformational development services firm for investors and brands engaged in hospitality real estate. Leveraging its international expertise, the group delivers feasibility analysis, project management, development management, and construction management, as well as project accounting for capex, renovations, redevelopment, and new development for both individual deals and entire portfolios. JHG is recognized as the leader in providing creative solutions to complex building challenges, tapping its diverse team, using proprietary project research and planning, and specialized in-house software that tracks progress and budget conformance. The firm excels as a bridge between the ambition of its clients and project realization, having managed more than $7 billion in development-related assignments encompassing 1200 hospitality projects in 36 countries. Offices are located in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Honolulu.