British designer Asif Khan has won the Cannes Lions Innovation award at this year’s Cannes Lions, a festival and awards show for professionals in the creative communications industry.
MegaFaces by Asif Khan. Photo: Hufton + Crow
Khan’s won the award for his work MegaFaces, a pavilion created for client MegaFon – the Russian telecommunications company – at this year’s Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
MegaFaces , a giant structure depicting 3D real life ‘selfies’ of visitors, generated significant critical acclaim during this year’s Games in February.
MegaFaces by Asif Khan. Photo: Hufton + Crow
The ‘pavilion’, which stood at the entrance of the Sochi Olympic Park, consisted of a 2,000 sq m cube with a ‘kinetic facade’ which Khan created alongside Basel-based engineer iart. The facade transformed in three dimensions to recreate the faces of visitors to the building, allowing them to create their own ‘selfies’.
MegaFaces by Asif Khan. Photo: Hufton + Crow
The win marks the first time the Cannes Lions Innovation award has been given to an architecture studio and the first time a Russian project has won the award.
Khan graduated from the Bartlett School, University College London in 2004 and in 2010 was selected by the Design Museum in London for its annual ‘Designer in Residence’ programme.
MegaFaces by Asif Khan. Photo: Hufton + Crow
He has since won a slew of design swards and has worked with companies including Coca-Cola and Swarovski.
This year Khan has also been shortlisted to design the UK Pavilion at the Milan Expo 2015 – the youngest of the shortlisted architects.
