The Schindler Awards for Accessibility have recognized first prize for the “UnderGreen” project, by UIC Barcelona Architecture student Alice Nicoleta Raducan. The Prizes are awarded to those Final Degree Projects (TFG) in Architecture that best integrate accessibility globally, coherently and from its conception.

The prizes are awarded to TFG and technical study projects that contemplate mobility and accessibility, developed in the corresponding Higher Technical Schools of Architecture, during the school year.

On this occasion, Alice Raducan’s TFG proposes an educational, commercial and “coliving” center in the municipality of Esplugues, in Barcelona. This center is designed to allow easy access and comfortable use to any person with disabilities or mobility or communication difficulties.

The second prizes have been awarded ex aequo to Yamil Gabriela Chapoñán for her project “Grower” and Miquel Vilalta with “Tradició, Farmacia, Gardens”. The winner of the third prize has been Macarena González, with the proposal “E! mobility”.

The Prize was awarded on July 15 in the Aula Magna, in the Award Ceremony of the architect titles to the recently graduated students. The jury was made up of Xavier Jiménez, responsible for Ascensores Schindler in Catalonia; the professors responsible for Projects Iñaki Baquero and Ávaro Cuellar, and the professor responsible for the Accessibility Area of ​​the TFG, Enrique Rovira-Beleta.

The jury has valued that the projects address accessibility from a global point of view, and beyond the regulations, taking into account people with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, as well as the large group of older people, and those with mobility/ temporary or permanent reduced communication.

Enrique Rovira-Beleta, architect and head of the Accessibility area at the UIC School of Architecture, highlights that the awards “value the use of vertical transport elements and actions to improve accessibility throughout the entire architectural and urban complex.” “We also value”, he adds, “that regulatory requirements are fully met and solutions fully integrated into the design are achieved”.

Xavier Jiménez, responsible for Ascensores Schindler in Catalonia, states that “architecture plays a key role in our lives. Architecture is art. It is science. And at the same time it is a reflection of the culture of the moment. But also, to this day, it is still a limiting element for many people who have difficulties accessing certain spaces”.

“These projects”, points out Xavier Jiménez, “reflect an opportunity to promote initiatives to eliminate architectural barriers and obstacles that can limit people’s daily lives. Initiatives that of course have to be innovative, efficient and sustainable”.