Press Release
Wagon Remodeling Food Van by Taichi Hirata Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Social Design
Taichi Hirata recognized for social design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Wagon Remodeling Food Van by Taichi Hirata has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Social Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Wagon Remodeling Food Van
The Japanese stone roasted sweet potato food wagon has long been an important presence in Japan's winters, bringing warmth and gently illuminating the town as night falls. It was reimagined through a contemporary design approach. In Kyoto, where the cityscape features a rhythm of horizontal and vertical elements like lattice windows, it was designed to integrate diagonal elements, adopted for structural reasons, in a way that complements Kyoto's streets as the ground and forms a figure within it.
About Taichi Hirata
Studio tata is an architecture and design firm based in Kyoto. Gradually established since 2015, the studio has developed its practice through close collaborations with architects, artists, and craftsmen, working on projects ranging from residential designs and apartment renovations to offices, restaurants, mobile retail solutions, and furniture. While deepening our contemplation of space, form, and materials, we have responded precisely to the diverse needs required of us, and have also carefully addressed the unspoken needs and often hidden desires that lie beneath the surface, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
Award Record
With this recognition, Taichi Hirata is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Social Design Award
The A' Social Design Award is an international design competition recognizing excellence in social design by social impact designers and think-tanks worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to social designers, social brands, social manufacturers and social design professionals from all countries. Entries typically include community projects, social campaigns, public installations, educational programs, sustainable initiatives and healthcare solutions. Awarded social designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/social
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/165779
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/165779
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!165779
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/361138
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://stdtata.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Wagon Remodeling Food Van
- Function
- Food Van
- Category
- Social Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Social Impact
- Colors
- Black, Maroon and Dark Slate Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Taichi Hirata
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #165779
Credits
- Image Credits
- ryo kotaka, unit1, 2020; taichi hirata, unit3, 2022; taichi hirata, unit4, 2023
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Japanese stone roasted sweet potato food wagon has long been an important presence in Japan's winters, bringing warmth and gently illuminating the town as night falls. I reimagined it through a contemporary design approach. In Kyoto, where the cityscape features a rhythm of horizontal and vertical elements like lattices windows, I focused on integrating diagonal elements, adopted for structural reasons, in a way that complements Kyoto's streets as the "ground" and forms a "figure" within it.
- Inspiration
- In Japan, during winter evenings, people with frozen hands from the cold buy warm roasted sweet potatoes, warming both their hands and hearts with the heat as they make their way home. It is a very familiar scene. When designing, I wanted to capture the nostalgia that resonates in the hearts of the Japanese. I aimed to express this warmth, like the soft orange light seen through a house's shoji screen, in office districts, in front of train stations, and in residential areas.
- Realization and Technology
- Initially, the budget was limited, but as professionals in architecture and construction, we decided to adopt an architectural approach rather than a high-precision industrial one. The frame, serving as the main structure, was made with wooden framing by carpenters, and the surface was finished with FRP membranes by waterproofing and painting specialists. By treating it as an extension of our usual work, we maintained quality and reduced intermediate costs with trusted colleagues.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in summer 2020 in Kyoto, with the first unit being developed, followed by the second unit in 2021 and the third unit in 2022 with minor updates. In 2023, the development of the fourth unit was carried out, incorporating the insights gained from the previous models
- Specifications
- l1880, h1225, w1385 (main) l3400, h1920, w1450 (include truck)
- Keywords
- food wagon, food truck, architecture, lighting, car design
