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2nd Biennial Guastavino Award

The initiative is designed to encourage research into the architect Rafael Guastavino, who forged architectural links between Catalonia and the United States

Attention architects and architecture students: The 2nd Biennial Guastavino Award is now open for inscription. The competition is an attempt to encourage research into the architecture of Valencia-born Rafael Guastavino Moreno.

On the one hand, the initiative is an attempt to promote research into and analysis of buildings constructed by the Guastavino Company around the world and, on the other hand, to encourage study of what is known as the “Catalan vault”, with special emphasis on the mechanisms of preservation and the introduction of the vault as a component in new constructions.

Rafael Guastavino was the innovator of this construction technique, which he applied to the construction of the Batlló factory (now the Industrial School of Barcelona) in 1868 as well as other houses and factories in the city. He was also the architect who imported the style into the United States during the 1880s, when he managed to introduce it into the Boston Public Library, eventually becoming one of the major figures in North American architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries. The biennial award, as a result, can also be interpreted as a meeting point between Catalonia and the United States.

The event is organised by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat in collaboration with the city councils of Barcelona and Vilassar de Dalt and is open to students and professionals under 40 years of age. Inscription is open until the 15th of September and projects can be presented from the 16th of September to the 31st of December. The winning project will be published and presented in Barcelona and Vilassar and will include a monetary prize of 3000€. For more information, please consult the terms and conditions of the Award.

Publication date: Friday, 20 June 2014
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