Award Number : 09E16019 Award-winning item : GREEN TOKYO GUNDAM PROJECT Company : GREEN TOKYO GUNDAM PROJECT COMMITTEE Producer： GREEN TOKYO GUNDAM COMITTEE

The Green Tokyo Gundam Project is a new project in which the citizens, government, and businesses of Tokyo worked together as one to communicate a message on urban renewal with abundant greenery and development of highly attractive urban environments, centered on Shiokaze Park in Tokyo's Odaiba district and held from Saturday, July 11 through Monday, August 31, 2009. An 18-meter-high full-size statue of Mobile Suit Gundam, created to mark the 30th anniversary of broadcast of the animated series of the same name, supported the project by drawing crowds and attracting attention. Through the Gundam statue, this project communicates to a wide range of generations from children through adults a message of urban renewal with abundant greenery and in support of realizing a "Green Olympics" by holding the games in the environmentally friendly city of Tokyo in 2016.

The background of the Gundam story depicts the problem of environmental damage we face today. The imaginary Universal Century year 0079 strikingly resembles the environment of 2009 A.D. Gundam may have had a message for us all along. This design is intended to communicate, through a Gundam statue in a green park in the city, a strong message to the next generation of children who will be responsible for the future on the importance of thinking about the future of Tokyo.

As the shift to digital technologies accelerates, the opposite concept of a real-world item stemming from the virtual world of animation is interesting. The design of this project, realizing the dream of a green urban renewal, has been evaluated highly. The way this project has moved 4.15 million people by realizing this extraordinary idea in today's times, when people feel closed in, suggests one possibility for future design.