On 20 July, the graduation ceremony of the 20 students in the graduating class of 2017-2018 from UIC Barcelona School of Architecture took place. The official opening of the event was in the hands of the director of the School, Josep Lluís i Ginovart, who thanked the families of the students and lecturers of the School for attending. 

Following his welcome address, Dr Ana Cocho, student coordinator, took the floor stressing “the effort, talent and constancy” of the new architects over the course of their academic training. “I hope that at UIC Barcelona we have been able to achieve our main goal: to help you learn to think and to rely on your own sense of critical thought”, said Ana Cocho addressing the students and parents present in the Aula Magma of the university.

This year the lecture of the graduation ceremony was delivered by the prestigious Argentinian architect, Mario Corea. Corea thanked the students for having chosen him as the patron for their graduating class and took stock of his 50 years working as a professional architect. “Architecture is at the core of building. The function of a building is forever changing, architecture is permanent”, he told the new architects. 

After his speech, the class representatives, Roberto Darvoy and Anna Capella, talked on behalf of all of the students. Darvoy gave an emotional speech dedicated to his classmates and revealed: “I have seen classmates who have pushed themselves day after day and picking themselves up the day after accepting a no”.

Josep Lluís i Ginovart gave the closing address at the ceremony. “We are very proud to have trained you to be self-critical and to constantly search for the truth”, he said. After his address, the traditional university hymn Gaudeamus Igitur was sung and afterwards students, parents and lecturers celebrated the graduation with some light snacks and refreshments in the UIC Barcelona gardens.