The prototype “Park(ing) Birds”, developed by a group of students from the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture (namely, Julia Annie Barnoin, Cristina Prada, Juan Francisco Uría, Arantxa de Alfonso, Guillermo Marfà, Nieves Blakstad, Roberto Darvoy, Carles Raiteri, Monika Rovira, Inés Casals, Richard Tam, Jennifer Vilà, Inés Ladera, Baptiste Langlais and Juan Torres, who were supervised by the UIC lecturers Jordi Mansilla and Laia Mestre), has won first prize in this year’s Vertical Workshop, which goes by the title of “URBANMAKING: Public Space Elements for Inclusion”.

“‘Park(ing) Birds’ is an ecological icon that can also exist in an urban setting. The intelligent approach of moving from an individual element to a collective one made up of small objects shows that the piece is very well thought out in both formal and constructive terms”. Such was the conclusion of the panel of judges, which comprised the architect Carme Fiol from Arriola & Fiol Arquitectes, Enric Pericas from Escofet, and the product designer Jordi Canudas.

In the words of the creators of “Park(ing) Birds”: “Barcelona has a complex ecological infrastructure with a wide variety of different types of natural space. We can ensure the stability of these public, semi-public and private natural spaces and green spaces within the city if we prevent them becoming isolated and try to forge connections that increase their complexity through exchanges of information, energy and materials.

“From spring to autumn, the biotope we have designed will provide nesting areas for small birds that are able to live in colonies, such as sparrows. From autumn to spring, the biotope will provide food for winter birds in the form of herbaceous plants and winter-flowering pulses that attract certain insect species. The birds will be able to feed on both the seeds and the insects.”

“URBANMAKING” also saw the presentation of the prototypes “El Empatizador”, “Let’s Park People”, “Human Parking”, “Encajados” and “Pit Box”. They will all be exhibited on Friday, 18 September 2015 at various locations around Barcelona in order to celebrate Park(ing) Day. “Park(ing) Birds”, the winning prototype, will be located at 92 Avinguda Paral·lel, while “Let’s Park People” can be found at Ronda Sant Antoni, “El Empatizador” at 65 Carrer de Sant Pau, “Encajados” at 45 Carrer Comte Borrell and “Pit Box” at 75 Avinguda Paral·lel.

This year the UIC Barcelona’s Vertical Workshop is celebrating its 18th anniversary with “URBANMAKING: Public Space Elements for Inclusion”, which is sponsored by BCN Ecologia and the Barcelona Urban Environment Agency. The aim of “URBANMAKING” is to create a city that is designed and planned for the benefit of its citizens, through the promotion of their social, cultural, environmental and economic wellbeing.