10 Blind Walls Ideas Competition for Young Architects

Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the Barcelona City Council have launched an international single stage ideas competition open to all young architects as part of the city’s nomination as the 2026 UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture.

Participants are invited to remodel 10 permanent blind walls, spread across the city’s 10 districts, aiming to leave a lasting legacy in Barcelona.

The winning proposals will be implemented, whenever possible, for their inauguration in 2026 as part of the programme of activities of the UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture.

This competition is conducted according to the UNESCO Standard Regulations for International Competitions and the UIA best practice recommendations.

Keywords : Urban Landscape

Prizes

There are 3 prizes for each of the 10 locations as follows:

  • 1st prize: 3,000 Euros
  • 2nd prize: 1,500 Euros
  • 3rd prize: 750 Euros

At its discretion, the jury may also decide to allocate up to three honorable mentions to proposals with particular merit for each site.

Competition results

First Prize: Placeta de Martina Castells

Intramuros by Núria Rodríguez i Molina

Second Prize: Placeta de Martina Castells

Kitchen Balcony by Ignasi Sarria Sánchez, Anna Badia Martínez

Third Prize: Placeta de Martina Castells

Reminiscència by Jordi Ma Lu, Tianyi Jiang

 

First Prize: Ctra. Antiga d'Horta

HANGING GARDENS  by Sofia Romeo Gurrea-Nozaleda

Second Prize: Ctra. Antiga d'Horta

FROM LOST TO THE “REC” by Carles Esquerra Julià, Gabriel Casals Serrano, Eric Mut Cuadern

Third Prize: Ctra. Antiga d'Horta

SVDS – Sustainable Vertical Drainage System by km13, Eric Moya Soler, Sílvia Prujà Mayà

First Prize: Jardins Francesc Masclans

THE GOLDEN GATEWAY by José Lacruz Vela

Second Prize: Jardins Francesc Masclans

Píxel Ecosystem by Álvaro González Serrano

Third Prize: Jardins Francesc Masclans

STITCH IT UP by Francisca Gual Ors & Sergi Pérez Gil

First Prize: Lluçà

LIVING THRESHOLD by Carlos Montero Pérez, Xavier Granados Esteve

Second Prize: Lluçà

The Urban Blindfold by Ege Cakir, Cemre Onerturk

Third Prize: Lluçà

IN-BETWEEN by Paula Navarro Lossa, Adrià Rosell Sáenz De Villaverde, Oriol Graells Riera

First Prize: Jardins de Marià Manent

Azure – Where City Walls Blossom by Teodora Todoranova, Nino Mgeladze

Second Prize: Jardins de Marià Manent

Darwin comes to Barcelona by Víctor Ballesteros Mateos

Third Prize: Jardins de Marià Manent

Water Bodies by Andrea Capilla Mónaco, Joan Martí Elias

First Prize: Jardins Caterina Albert

EIXAMPLANT by Oscar Segovia Castillo, Alan Ferrando Shearer, Iván Lozano Benéitez

Second Prize: Jardins Caterina Albert

Look out by Francesco Leoni, Davide Troiani, Behar Shoti, Elena Stefani, Gianluigi Perinelli, Federica Missanelli

Third Prize: Jardins Caterina Albert

FachadaCreativa94 by Andrei de Morais de Souza

First Prize: Pantà de Tremp

Terraplén by Renato Righi, Pedro Escoriza Torralbo

Second Prize: Pantà de Tremp

WICKER WALLSCAPE by Alicia Borchardt, Quentin Blaising

Third Prize: Pantà de Tremp

The view from days gone by Antonio Cornely

First Prize: Placeta de Charlot

Safareig by Diego Costanzo, Agustina Coulleri

Second Prize: Placeta de Charlot

Ceramic Fold by Rodrigo Ballina Benites, Luciano Ariel Del Valle, Agustina Ronconi, Lucía Russo Herrera

Third Prize: Placeta de Charlot

sous les pavés, la plage! by Mariano Jaime Moreno, Javier Ortega

First Prize: Placeta de Grau

THE NAKED by Dániel Hartvig, Dávid Kálna

Second Prize: Placeta de Grau

Waterland by Francesco Leoni, Davide Troiani, Behar Shoti, Elena Stefani, Gianluigi Perinelli, Federica Missanelli

Third Prize: Placeta de Grau

Living Screen by Dimitrios Mitsimponas, Hugo Hu, Xixi Sun

First Prize: Parc de la Sagrera

MUNDOCIRCUNDANTE by Ralph Tomas Bravo Nieto

Second Prize: Parc de la Sagrera

The Threefold by Cristina Roca Farre, Enrique Mora Azon, Alba Muñoz Rodriguez

Third Prize: Parc de la Sagrera

“Eco Walls, Dynamic Cities” by Jiaojiao Miao

Theme and objectives

Jury Members

  • Camilla van Deurs (Denmark) architect
  • Ali Kural (Turkey), architect
  • Teddy Cruz (Guatemala/USA), architect
  • Philip F. Yuan (China), architect, UIA representative
  • Meriem Chabani (Algeria/France), architect
  • Maria Buhigas (Spain), Barcelona Chief City Architect
  • Anna Ramos (Spain), Director of Fundació Mies van der Rohe
  • Alternate juror: Grichka Martinetti (France), architect, UIA representative

Eligibility

This competition is open to all architects, entitled to practise in their country of residence, born on or after 1 January 1989.

Multidisciplinary teams must include an architect.

Key dates

2024-06-10 Competition Launch
2024-06-20 Deadline for questions
2024-07-01 Publication of answers
2024-08-05 Submission of entries
2024-09-25 Publication of results

Reference documents

Competition Brief
Competition Programme
Competition Sites
Past
Urban Landscape
Open
Single-stage
Young architects