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Gabriel García Márquez Library

Suma Arquitectura wins a City of Barcelona Award for the Gabriel García Márquez Library

The award also went to the Punt de Referència Association in the Education category, and to the Esbart Ciutat Comtal in the Popular and Community Cultures category.

The juries for the Ciutat de Barcelona 2022 Awards in the categories of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, Education and Popular and Community Cultures have announced their verdicts. The €9,500 prizes will be awarded on 15 February at a ceremony in Barcelona City Council's Saló de Cent.

In Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, the jury composed of Kathrin Golda-Pongratz (president), Pau de Solà-Morales, Ariadna Parreu, Eva Franch and Oscar Guayabero, unanimously agreed to award the Prize to Suma Arquitectura (Elena Orte and Guillermo Sevillano), architects of the Gabriel García Márquez Library in Sant Martí de Provençals. According to the jury, the project resolves the material, environmental, spatial and urban aspects of a complex and innovative library programme that offers a social, cultural and educational service to the neighbourhood beyond the usual typologies. The building provides a climatic refuge and a referential and iconic space, with a materiality that represents the values of a sustainable city open to reading and culture. The execution of the project highlights the haptic and sensorial experiences, creating an intimate and intimate space that invites us to rethink the future of libraries.

In the Education category, the jury formed by Fathia Benhammou Lachiri (president), Eulàlia Esclapés Turró, Laia Colell, Eulàlia Bosch and Mireia Estrada, unanimously decided to award the Prize to the Punt de Referencia Association for the Referents project. It highlights its capacity to generate emotional, linguistic and social links and spaces of security with young people that were in care, based on citizen commitment and educational accompaniment.

In the Popular and Community Cultures category, the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize was awarded unanimously to the show EN5D, by Esbart Ciutat Comtal. The jury, made up of Ester Bonal (president), Roger Gispert, Oriol Cendra Planas, Joan Sànchez and Fàtima Ahmed, emphasised that the production is a brave proposal, with an innovative look at traditional and roots dance. The will to break stereotypes and gender roles in the choreographic and costume design with a commitment to an open and dynamic conception of popular culture is especially valued. In this same category, the jury made special mention of the 2022 calendar of celebrations of the Raval Interreligious Group (GIR), because it gives visibility to the cultural and religious diversity of the neighbourhood. The 2022 calendar, designed collectively by the organisations involved, includes an educational guide designed to work on this diversity in schools through intercultural dialogue. This initiative has become a benchmark for rethinking the city's festive cycle.

Consult the winners of the Ciutat de Barcelona Literary Awards here.

Publication date: Thursday, 26 January 2023
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