Manel Xifra Award for RCR Arquitectes
DATE
29.04.2026
The RCR Arquitectes studio, led by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta, has been honored with the 2026 Manel Xifra Boada Award in the category of Knowledge Transmission. This award, granted by the Association of Graduate Engineers and Industrial Technical Engineers of Girona (Comgirona) together with the Xifra Boada family, recognizes the work of the architects from Olot for their ability to disseminate and share their architectural vision with new generations.
The award ceremony, held at the Girona Auditorium, highlighted the trajectory of a studio that has successfully brought Catalan architecture to the international forefront while maintaining a strong bond with its local territory. The jury especially emphasized the creation of the RCR Bunka Foundation and its research center in La Vila—where workshops are held with students from the MBA MArch program in Architecture, Design, and Business Administration—both spaces acting as engines for learning and experimentation. These projects demonstrate that, for RCR, architecture is a discipline that must be communicated and experienced collectively.
During the event, it was underlined that the Manel Xifra Boada Award seeks to honor professionals who, in addition to excelling in their respective technical fields, actively contribute to social progress through knowledge. RCR Arquitectes, winners of the Pritzker Prize in 2017, embody this ideal by integrating engineering and architecture in a constant dialogue with nature. Their pedagogical approach, which attracts students from all over the world to their summer workshops in Olot, is one of the primary reasons for this recognition.
The ceremony was attended by various authorities and representatives from the industrial and technological sectors, who agreed in pointing out the awardees as an ethical and aesthetic benchmark. The transmission of knowledge carried out by RCR is not limited to construction techniques but encompasses a humanistic philosophy on how we inhabit the world. For the engineering community, honoring this architecture studio reinforces the necessary interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering and avant-garde architectural design.
Ultimately, this award consolidates RCR Arquitectes as one of the most influential firms in the contemporary cultural landscape. In an increasingly digitized world, their commitment to shared knowledge and direct contact with materials and the landscape is more necessary than ever. The Manel Xifra Boada distinction celebrates, in the end, a career dedicated to creating spaces that inspire and an intellectual generosity that secures the future of the profession.
MArch Valencia. Arquitectura y Diseño
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