On 18 July, the graduation ceremony for the 12 students from 2018-2019 graduating class at the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture was held. The event was officially opened by the director of the School, Josep Lluís i Ginovart, who thanked the students’ families and the School lecturers for attending.

After the opening address, student coordinator Raquel Colacios took the stand and explained how the graduates’ work may have a positive impact on society and the planet. “We have given you the tools you need to work as a professional in this new stage”, she stated. “You need to use these tools responsibly in a world poised to face key challenges in the future”. 

This year, the graduation ceremony’s lecture was delivered by Dr Jacobo García-Germán, an architect and lecturer at the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Madrid, as well as winner of prestigious international awards such as the FAD Award and a nomination in the Mies van der Rohe Awards. In his speech he encouraged the students to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit. “The architectural profile and path that each of you adopt is singular, unique”, he assured the graduates. “In the end, the most important thing is that you preserve the drive you feel as university students”. 

Dr García-Germán was followed by class representatives Nieves Blakstad and Genís Vilalta, who thanked the teaching body for all of the effort they invested in them over the past 5 years. “Life looks different through the eyes of an architect, but we will never forget that the education you gave us is by and for the people”, they confided. 

Josep Lluís i Ginovart was the person charged with giving the ceremony’s closing address. Following his speech, the traditional university hymn Gaudeamus Igitur was sung, and afterwards students, parents and lecturers celebrated the graduation with refreshments in the UIC Barcelona garden.