Published on 20-05-2021

Felixx wins two WLA 2021 awards

Award of Excellence for 'Towards a healthy city by foot'

We are very excited that two Felixx' projects have won at the 2021 World Landscape Architecture Awards. This year, out of 400 participating projects, Felixx was awarded both the Award of Excellence and the Award of Merit for the projects we sent in. We realize that to be a winner among so many outstanding designs is really quite amazing. We are very proud to get this recognition for our projects by the international WLA Awards jury. Also, we would like to congratulate all other winners with their achievement!

According to the WLA 2021 jury: "The submissions for the 2021 WLA Professional Award came from firms, designers including a diverse range of projects. The jury felt that the quality was high, and many of the projects addressed the sites and issues with sensitivity and create designs that the landscape architecture profession should be proud of."

Award of Excellence: Towards a healthy city by foot

The Award of Excellence (1st place) we received for our research project: ‘Towards a healthy city by foot’ in the category Concept-Design! Walking may not be the fastest way to get around, but it is the only type of movement that doesn't require a vehicle. Walking values the importance of our closer public space and the available green in our direct environment. Corona has clearly shown us how people are dependent on the qualities of their domestic urban landscapes. Moreover, by walking more, we limit the influence of our movements on the environment creating a walkable city where the journey is as important as the destination. The walkable city as proposed in our research is a more sustainable city that improves health, climate adaptation, and social inclusivity within our cities.

Research team
Our research team operates at the heart of every Felixx project, conducting research into urgent spatial and social issues. This central role of a research team has been a fundamental choice very early in the development of our office. It is therefore very rewarding to get recognition for our research in the form of this Excellence Award!

We thank the Dutch Board of Government Advisors, Daan Zandbelt, Mike Emmerik, Filip van As, STIPO & Sander van der Ham for their collaboration! And we congratulate our team members, Eduardo Marin Salinas, Elan Redekop van der Meulen, Cherk-Ga Leung & Michiel Van Driessche, with this fantastic outcome!

Award of MERIT: Blankenburg Süden – Circular City

The Merit Award (2nd place) in the category Concept – Analysis & Planning, was for our joint project with Cityförster: ‘Blankenburg Süden – Circular City, Berlin’. Blankenburg Süden is designated as one of the largest expansion sites for the city of Berlin, covering an area of 150ha and providing up to 6000 new affordable and healthy homes. We designed the spatial framework for this area; a circular organization of four new residential areas where the landscape shapes the city.

Landscapecity
A new city district is created that commits to a strong relationship with the surrounding landscape qualities and services such as water, food, energy, knowledge, raw materials, mobility & biodiversity. A “landscape city”, that adapts to the scale of the various cores in this green expanse. It does not become an independent, demarcated district, but emphatically fits into the context, strengthens existing cores and expands them. As a result the area also acquires the scale of communities in the vicinity.

We congratulate all team members at Cityförster: Oliver Seidel, Verena Brehm, Jakob Bohlen, Niklas Staack, Imke Hullmann; and our own Zofia Krzykawska, Nancy Smolka, Eduardo Marin Salinas, Shailaja Shah, Maria E. Castrillo & Michiel Van Driessche, with this fantastic outcome!

We are very excited that two Felixx' projects have won at the 2021 World Landscape Architecture Awards. This year, out of 400 participating projects, Felixx was awarded both the Award of Excellence and the Award of Merit for the projects we sent in. We realize that to be a winner among so many outstanding designs is really quite amazing. We are very proud to get this recognition for our projects by the international WLA Awards jury. Also, we would like to congratulate all other winners with their achievement! According to the WLA 2021 jury: 'The submissions for the 2021 WLA Professional Award came from firms, designers including a diverse range of projects. The jury felt that the quality was high, and many of the projects addressed the sites and issues with sensitivity and create designs that the landscape architecture profession should be proud of.' Award of Excellence: Towards a healthy city by foot The Award of Excellence (1st place) we received for our research project: ‘Towards a healthy city by foot’ in the category Concept-Design! Walking may not be the fastest way to get around, but it is the only type of movement that doesn't require a vehicle. Walking values the importance of our closer public space and the available green in our direct environment. Corona has clearly shown us how people are dependent on the qualities of their domestic urban landscapes. Moreover, by walking more, we limit the influence of our movements on the environment creating a walkable city where the journey is as important as the destination. The walkable city as proposed in our research is a more sustainable city that improves health, climate adaptation, and social inclusivity within our cities. Research teamOur research team operates at the heart of every Felixx project, conducting research into urgent spatial and social issues. This central role of a research team has been a fundamental choice very early in the development of our office. It is therefore very rewarding to get recognition for our research in the form of this Excellence Award! We thank the Dutch Board of Government Advisors, Daan Zandbelt, Mike Emmerik, Filip van As, STIPO & Sander van der Ham for their collaboration! And we congratulate our team members, Eduardo Marin Salinas, Elan Redekop van der Meulen, Cherk-Ga Leung & Michiel Van Driessche, with this fantastic outcome! Award of MERIT: Blankenburg Süden – Circular City The Merit Award (2nd place) in the category Concept – Analysis & Planning, was for our joint project with Cityförster: ‘Blankenburg Süden – Circular City, Berlin’. Blankenburg Süden is designated as one of the largest expansion sites for the city of Berlin, covering an area of 150ha and providing up to 6000 new affordable and healthy homes. We designed the spatial framework for this area; a circular organization of four new residential areas where the landscape shapes the city. Landscapecity A new city district is created that commits to a strong relationship with the surrounding landscape qualities and services such as water, food, energy, knowledge, raw materials, mobility & biodiversity. A “landscape city”, that adapts to the scale of the various cores in this green expanse. It does not become an independent, demarcated district, but emphatically fits into the context, strengthens existing cores and expands them. As a result the area also acquires the scale of communities in the vicinity. We congratulate all team members at Cityförster: Oliver Seidel, Verena Brehm, Jakob Bohlen, Niklas Staack, Imke Hullmann; and our own Zofia Krzykawska, Nancy Smolka, Eduardo Marin Salinas, Shailaja Shah, Maria E. Castrillo & Michiel Van Driessche, with this fantastic outcome!