“Toca Terra” is the result of more than 15 years of research on the
use of earth as a building material. The research paper appeared in the July
2011 issue of the Spanish architecture journal Informes de la Construcción published by the
Spanish National Research Council’s Instituto Eduardo Torroja. The issue featured a monograph on earth as a building
material coordinated by Bestraten and Hormías. The AJAC Award was
granted in the category of architecture research and dissemination (blogs,
journals, dissemination initiatives, documentation, etc.), specifically for bringing
architecture to a wider audience.

The AJAC Awards are granted by
the Association of Young Architects of Catalonia (AJAC), which is part of the Association
of Architectures of Catalonia, and were organized for the first time in 1996.
The objective was to give more exposure to the work of architects under the age
of 40 through activities such as exhibitions, conferences and publications. The
awards are granted to works, projects and research carried out over the previous
year.

The AJAC Awards are
now in their eighth edition. Every two years an international panel of experts
is brought together to anonymously assess the projects submitted. The winning
projects are featured in the AJAC publication Cicle
de tertúlies: inexperiències, as well as in a documentary
made by the association.