The jury recognised the projects completed by the students of UIC Barcelona School of Architecture who took the monographic course on ceramics and solar harvesting, sponsored by the Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Association (ASCER), and taught by lecturer Vicente Sarrablo and architects Jordi Roviras and Cristina García Castelao.

Throughout the course, students explored the creative possibilities of designing ceramic pieces in combination with photovoltaic cells for the construction of roofs, pergolas, lattices or urban furniture, among other elements. This initiative highlights the commitment of the Barcelona Ceramic Chair to promote research and the application of sustainable solutions in contemporary architecture.

The jury of this edition was composed by architects and former students of the chair Jordi Ayala and Jonathan Arnabat of Arquitectura-G studio, and by José Luís Cisneros of Ágora Arquitectura. The Arquitectura-G and Ágora Arquitectura studios have won several prestigious awards and are part of the new generation of architects that have redefined the parameters of the current architecture. For this reason they have been selected for “The new realist. Catalan and Balearic architecture from the 2008 crisis” exhibition, organised by Disseny Hub Barcelona.

The winning projects

The three students awarded in this edition were Vlad-Andrei Calugareanu, Fabiola Voka y Shahbonu Lalbekova.

The jury highlighted Vlad-Andrei Calugareanu’s project “for the development of a constructive element that efficiently resolves the integration of solar capture through a façade system with extruded ceramic pieces. These pieces have a very refined design and allow large combinations of façade with excellent energy efficiency.”

As for the system designed by Fabiola Voka, the jury said that “it solves the problem of solar capture in a comprehensive manner, but with separate parts that offer a lot of compositional flexibility at the same time. Separating the ceramic piece from the plate or the photovoltaic surface generates a new category that provides greater flexibility of composition.”

The project designed by Shahbonu Lalbekova stood out for being “a very complete system with a simple solution that has a double function as pergola and lighting, offering solar protection during the day and lighting at night”, according to the jury. The three members of the jury also affirmed that “it is a design that reflects a good knowledge about the material while simplifying its production process”.