SKY DESIGN AWARDS
Executive Advisors & International Advisory Committee (IAC)
To us, the sky is everything that lies above the surface of the Earth, including the atmosphere and outer space. In the field of astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere. Viewed from Earth’s surface as an abstract dome on which the Sun, stars, planets, and Moon appear to be traveling. In the Chinese and Japanese definition, Sky is also made up of significant, or meaning of the greatest, A top line representing the level above a man with outstretched arms (most significant).
In our daily living, design, and architecture also is created on the abstract dome and the plain surface. Hence, the name of the Sky Design Awards is curated.
One of the main focus critical points of this awards is we wish the Sky Design Awards and the Experience Centre will able to provide opportunities for overseas hiring and projects cooperation in different countries.
One of the most renown specialised design awards in design industry in Asia. A brand new but greatest design community to share and exchange information and ideas in a spatial creation industry in Asia Pacific. This year Sky Design Awards will take place in Tokyo, Japan and awards exhibition and experience centre will be extended to China and Canada.
Peggy Lui
Founder of Sky Design Awards
Founder & Editor in Chief of Merci Media Corporation
2017-2020 Co. Chair of Communication and event of Retail Design Insitute HK Centre
2021 KUKAN Design Awards Judges (Japan)
Peggy Lui, born in Hong Kong, raised in Belgium and Canada, and immersed in art and design from an early age. Her passion for creativity led her to study Graphic Design & Advertising at George Brown College. This was followed by further education in digital media and business management. In 2013, Peggy founded Merci Media, a dynamic company dedicated to lifestyle magazines, program curation, and event management. As the driving force behind Merci Media, she oversees the editing of Merci Magazine and Merci Design Workshop. In these magazines, she interviews renowned entrepreneurs and designers, and develops impactful brand positioning strategies for corporate design. Peggy's achievements extend beyond the media. In 2016, she was nominated as the Communication and Event Co-Chair of the Retail Design Institute HK Chapter, showcasing her expertise in retail design and events.
Peggy's contribution to the design industry is evident through her curation of key events in Hong Kong. Notable examples include the RIBA Hong Kong Chapter TALK! 2015, 2016, and Celebrate! 2015, 2016, HKIA Furniture Design competition. She also played a vital role in the launch of the Retail Design Institute HK Chapter in 2016. In 2018, she collaborated with a key partner to curate and bring Design Week Kyoto to Hong Kong. In 2019, she curated the Sky Design Awards. In 2021, she invited by JCD to became one of the judges for Japan Kukan Design Awards. This showcased her commitment to fostering international design connections. In 2022, she created a groundbreaking newsletter “One Story” that spotlights and celebrates the essence of designers and entrepreneurial design thinking. With a dedication to the design industry. Through insightful narratives and compelling visuals, the newsletter paints a vivid picture of each individual's journey, their inspirations, challenges, and ultimately, the design value they contribute to the global landscape.
Scott Brooks
Founder of Imagennix
Chair of Honors & Awards and Board Advisor, Strategy of the AIA Hong Kong Chapter.
Sky Design Awards Executive Advisor Committee (EAC)
Scott Brooks is a professional architectural photographer and strategic planning consultant with over 30 years of experience advising on development projects and corporate structures throughout Asia. His notable planning assignments include leading the engagement, incorporating work from specialists in tourism, infrastructure, engineering, and transportation to develop land-use programs and economic models that served as the foundation for the master plan to redevelop the city center of Aqaba, Jordan. He also developed conceptual positioning and facilities programs for the successful tender of development rights for the two international resort hotels at Ocean Park Hong Kong and led the Nikko Hotel’s development team in winning management contracts for overseas hotels in competitive bids with significantly larger international brands. Scott currently serves as Chair of the strategic planning task force and communications committee of the AIA Hong Kong Chapter.
Tomohisa Nagai
Executive producer of Ted Associates.
SSOJ President
Sky Design Awards Board Advisor (Non-Executive Co-Chairman)
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Tomohisa Nagai formed Ted Associates (TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN ASSOCIATES) after working for Seibu Department Store. Besides architecture, Mr. Nagai also designs interiors, products, and graphics. He has been actively involved in inviting overseas designers to Japan, coordinating with them, and cooperating on projects with them over the past decade. Additionally, he is active in design management and design consulting, and is committed to creating timeless spaces.
Daishi Yoshimoto
Principal at Yoshimoto Associates Inc
Board Member of AIA Japan (American Institute of Architects Japan Chapter)
Sky Design Awards - The International Advisory Committee (IAC)
Born in Tokyo, raised in Panama, and educated in the US, Daishi Yoshimoto is principal of architecture studio Yoshimoto Associates. A licensed architect both in Japan and the US, Yoshimoto’s career spans multiple cultures and over 30 years of experience in residential, commercial, and hospitality design.
Yoshimoto graduated from architecture programs at the University of California, Berkeley (M. Arch) and the University of Florida (BA. Arch). Following his studies at UC Berkeley, he worked for architect and Berkeley professor Stanley Saitowitz in San Francisco. At Takenaka, one of Japan’s top design-builders where Yoshimoto worked for 20 years, he designed some of the most high-profile projects of the company including the new French Embassy and Tri-Seven Roppongi. In an overseas assignment during his time at Takenaka, he was stationed in Doha, Qatar to work on the new Hamad International Airport as a member of Takenaka’s on-site design/build team. Yoshimoto later joined UDS, where he led his design team for numerous hospitality projects including the Onsen Ryokan Yuen Shinjuku and Hamacho Hotel.
Over the years, Yoshimoto’s work have received recognition in major domestic and international design awards including the BCS Award (Japan), Good Design Award (Japan), iF Award (Germany), DFA and APIDA (both in Hong Kong).
Yoshimoto is a founding member of the Japan Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), where he served as Chapter President in 2018 and continues to serve as a board member.
Manuel Rabaté
Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi
Sky Design Awards - The International Advisory Committee (IAC)
Born in March 1976, Manuel Rabaté is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po, 1998), and of HEC Business School (2001). He began his career as a Deputy Director at the auditorium of the Musée du Louvre from 2002 until 2005. He participated among other things in the creation of new programmes on Islamic Arts in the context of the first performance contract concluded between the French government and the museum for its modernisation. He joined the Musée du quai Branly as a Deputy Director of Cultural Development a year before its opening in 2006, and structured the administrative and financial management of many key issues for the opening. After the opening, he led the launching of the first exhibitions abroad including "Masques - Beauté des Esprits" exhibition at the Bahrain National Museum, 2008. Manuel Rabaté joined Agence France-Muséums in 2008, a year after the signing of the intergovernmental agreement between France and the United Arab Emirates marking the birth of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project. Subsequently, he has followed the project from its conceptual phase until its operational implementation as a Secretary General and the acting CEO since 2010. He was appointed CEO of Agence France-Museums in 2013 under the proposal of the Board of Directors and its Chairman, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, to set up in Abu Dhabi a multidisciplinary team of museum professionals and follow through the phases of the project realization in collaboration with the major French museums and their UAE partners.
In September 2016, Manuel Rabaté was appointed Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi). Aside from his duties in the service of museums, Manuel Rabaté has also chaired the reflection group-Culture & Management, in which he had created the museum department. He has also taught Arts and Cultural Management at various universities in France and Abu Dhabi (Paris-Dauphine University, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi since the establishment of the Master in "History of Art and Museum
Manfred Yuen
Founder of Groundwork Architecture + Urbanism (London)
Co-Founder of Groundwork Architects + Associates (Hong Kong & Shenzhen)
Sky Design Awards - The International Advisory Committee (IAC)
Manfred is the founder of Groundwork Architecture + Urbanism, London in 2007 and the co-founder of Groundwork Architects + Associates, Hong Kong and Shenzhen in 2011. Since 2007, apart from his practice, Manfred also served as a visiting lecturer at Kingston University, London and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design, teaching architecture design and history.
Prior to the founding of Groundwork, Manfred received his architectural training from the University of Cambridge and the University of Hong Kong (with First Class Honor). Manfred had worked with esteemed design house, Pentagram (London) and Coop-Himmelb(l)au, Vienna, where he was responsible for their operations in China.
Groundwork aspires to be a platform that may explore how architecture, arts, social responsiblities and the poetics of the various urban conditions may be synthesized. Groundwork is keen on serving the public, thus, apart from instigating various public work initiatives, Manfred is serving as honorable adviser for various organizations, such as the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Oxfam International, Scout Association and HK Society of Education of Arts. Some of his notable awards include the "40-under-40 Design Talents/Asia" (2011) and " The Next Generation Architects, Backstage Architecture, Italy" (2010). Manfred is also the recipient of the Spirit of Hong Kong 2013 Award, an award that celebrates the achievements of remarkable Hong Kong people who make our city a better place.
Groundwork is realizing architecture, art works and social projects globally(Italy, Germany, England, China, Singapore, Cambodia and Hong Kong). For the past four years, Groundwork had been working with the government of Hong Kong to develop our future playground and hawker stalls policies through public engagments and researches.
Apart from the professional engagements, Manfred is a columnist and he is writing for several local magazines.
William To
Executive Director of PMQ
Sky Design Awards - The International Advisory Committee (IAC)
William is the Executive Director of PMQ, a creative platform for design entrepreneurs located in the heart of Hong Kong.
Before spearheading one of the most successful redevelopment initiatives in Hong Kong. In 1992, he founded his own agency, Vision Integrated Communications Ltd, and later became a brand consultant, helping clients launch their brands and products in Hong Kong and China. William spent 18 years in the advertising industry in Hong Kong. He joined Hong Kong Design Centre in 2005 and was responsible for their flagship events – Business of Design Week (BODW), Knowledge of Design Week (KODW) and Design for Asia Awards (DFAA 2006-08). Starting from August 2012, William retains his role as a senior consultant to Hong Kong Design Centre.
William joined PMQ in 2012 as Creative and Programme Director and with determined and innovative efforts, where he heads up ambitious and innovative efforts in creating programmes to inspire, connect and collaborate with Hong Kong’s local design community but also initiated and organized programmes that inspire and connect Hong Kong with overseas’ design community.