News Release
Design Workshop Named Finalist in Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards
Posted 5/16/2024
Design Workshop, an international landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm, is pleased to announce they were named a finalist in the Urban Design category of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards in recognition for their leadership and work on The Point located in Draper, Utah. The winners of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards highlight fresh sustainability initiatives, cutting-edge AI developments, ambitious pursuits of social equity, and other creative projects that are helping mold the world.
The Design Workshop team, in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has led the way in taking the concept of a 15-minute city – where everyone can meet their daily needs within 15-minutes – from idea to reality with the development of The Point. Rapid population growth in Salt Lake City continues to cause a loss of natural landscapes, increased traffic congestion, and poorer air pollution. The Point project is taking advantage of a rare opportunity to reverse these trends by becoming the first 15-minute city in Utah. By redeveloping a former 600-acre prison site into a model for sustainable development and landscape restoration, The Point will create new jobs, housing, transit, and access to open spaces while reducing reliance on automobiles. A model for the new American suburb, The Point serves as an innovative framework for human and environmental wellbeing.
“The Point is poised to redefine urban living, economic vitality, and sustainable practices,” said Jim MacRae, Principal at Design Workshop. “It’s not merely a mixed-use development but a visionary undertaking that holds the potential to serve as a prototype for the new 15-minute city model across the United States. Fast Company’s recognition of this groundbreaking project is a significant honor and we are proud to be part of the team working to take this big, bold idea and turn it into a reality.”
This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 50 winners, 127 finalists, and 172 honorable mentions. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners from a pool of more than 1,300 entries across climate, social justice, wellness, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. The 2024 awards feature entries from across the globe, including the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and Madagascar.
“I was struck this year by the global sweep of the honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “It’s endlessly inspiring to see how the world is coming together to devise inventive solutions to our most challenging problems. We need ideas from everywhere, and this year’s World Changing Ideas Awards are an extraordinary encapsulation of the innovation and creativity that is so abundant around the globe.”
Learn more about Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards honorees
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and bold concepts that make the world better. Judges choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to work on solving the problems that affect us all.
About Fast Company
Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.