Maria Rodríguez Soto, Victoria Szpunberg, Xavier Pla and Tarta Relena, winners of the 2024 City of Barcelona Awards

BarcelonaThe 2024 Ciutat de Barcelona Awards already have winners in the sixteen categories, which include cultural awards and others related to science. This year, in fact, there will be two award ceremonies in the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall: on March 12 at 6 p.m., for the cultural categories, and on May 27 at 5 p.m., for the scientific categories.

The list of winners of the 2024 Ciutat de Barcelona Awards

Architecture and urban planning

Carlos Ferrater (OAB), Lucía Ferrater (OAB) and Jesús Coll, for the new fishermen's box at the port of Barcelona. According to the jury, "for its integration into the port and the openness of its activity to the public, as well as the careful interpretation of the place where it is located, the good fit of the functional program, the volumetric clarity and the innovation in the construction materials, which definitely contributes to the success of the work."

The jury makes a special mention of the team led by Jornet, Llop, Pastor Arquitectes, for the modification of the General Metropolitan Plan of Clot and Camp de l'Arpa, "for their sensitivity in the planning of the built city."

Design and fashion

Teresa Helbig for the collection Wet ballet, "for her personal style in fashion and imagery, based on tradition and fashion crafts, outside of mass production, transporting them into the 21st century and taking the name of Barcelona to the international level."

Special mention to Laura Meseguer and Anja Lutz for the project Recipes to connect, "given the innovative way of bringing together local and international creators with a modest proposal, but at the same time with a high quality of design."

Agustí Duran and Sanpere Prize for essays, humanities and history of Barcelona

Xavier Pla by A furtive heart. Life of Josep Pla (Destino), for "the exhaustive and documented research on one of the most relevant and complex writers of contemporary Catalan literature". The jury highlights its intelligence in composition and stylistic quality, achieving at the same time a significant portrait of Josep Pla and his historical context.

Literature in Catalan

Cristina Masanes for the work Marcharones. Journey through the peaks and valleys of language, published by L'Avenç. The jury highlights "the subtle combination of literary genres in a work that plays with narrative, memorialism and essay to pay homage to language as a family bond." "From discretion and precision – the jury continues – a memorable literary piece is built on the landscapes walked, the illness and death of the father, and as much as this on the loss of names and the world that they represent."

Translation into Catalan

Xavier Pàmies, for the translation of the book Middlemarch, by George Eliot, for "the masterful way in which he makes a great classic work laugh, with grace and skill, giving it a new shine."

The jury agrees to make a special mention to Pau Sabaté, for the translation of the book Poems of resistance, by Iannis Ritsos, "to make the Greek poet speak in Catalan with elegance, beauty and naturalness."

Literature in the Spanish language

Gabriela Wiener by Atusparia, "a novel of notable literary ambition and great originality in prose, which poses an acid reflection on Peru's recent political past."

Audiovisual

Maria Rodriguez Soto for his excellent performance in the films Mammal and House on fire, in which "the creative contribution of actresses and actors in the audiovisual work is highlighted."

Digital culture

Estampa Workshop Collective, by the Mapping generative AI, for "creating spaces of socio-community knowledge, both in the exploration carried out and in its informative capacity, due to its transparency and accessibility, as well as the narrative latency of the generated image that reflects the contemporary socio-political moment."

The jury agrees to make a special mention of the first edition of Responsive Dreams, Digital Art Festival, for "generating a space in the generative art community, and the quality of its content."

Popular and community cultures

Coordinator of Colles Geganteres de Barcelona, ​​​​for the organization of the three meetings of giants that have taken place in Barcelona within the framework of the 600 years of giants in the city, "historic events of great social impact that have brought together a wide representation of the giant world from all over in all its diversity and sensitivities."

The jury makes a special mention of the musical show Anselmo of the Coral Sant Jordi, for "the combination of innovation and tradition and its careful production."

Culture and education

Marta Galán Sala, for "the political and transformative dimension of her community creation processes articulated from the rigor of research and artistic formalization, which she has been able to capture in the book Political dramaturgies (2011-2022)".

Music

Relena cake for the disk It is a question, released in the Mediterranean Fair of Manresa and subsequently presented at L'Auditori in Barcelona. The jury highlighted "the audacity of combining modern creative tools with a wealth of historical and traditional languages, conveying a hopeful look towards the immediate future."

Visual Arts

Jordi Colomer, for the exhibition Facade, photo, party, future, noodles, for "rethinking the forms and limits of the exhibition, for understanding the festival and popular culture as a revolutionary act and collective resistance, and for a visionary work that already anticipated key themes such as the right to housing and the appropriation of public space."

The jury makes a special mention of Hac Vinent, for the exhibition Accident, for "the aesthetic and discursive forcefulness, which places the policies of anti-ableism at the center of the artistic and social debate."

Performing arts

Victoria Szpunberg for the authorship and direction of The categorical imperative, "a play that addresses the problems of housing and job insecurity through a female protagonist in her fifties, in a big city like Barcelona." The jury also highlights "the excellent direction of the actors and the strength and relevance of the text."

Experimental sciences and technology

Jose Antonio Garrido and Kostas Kostarelos for the article Nanoporous graphene-based thin-film microelectrodes for in vivo-high-resolution neural recording and stimulation, in which a graphene technology is developed that has allowed the integration of microimplants in the field of neuromedicine, in the clinical analysis phase through thespin-off InBrain Neuroelectronics, SL

The jury also agrees to award a special mention to Marcel Guardia, for the article Why are inner planets not tilted?, which proves a mathematical theorem about instability in planetary systems, "providing a plausible explanation for the stability of our Solar System."

Life Sciences

Laura Soucek for the work MYC targeting by OMO-103 in solid tumors: a phase 1 trial, published in the magazine Nature Medicine, which demonstrates, based on a clinical trial, the validity of the MYC protein as a therapeutic target for the treatment of solid tumors. The jury particularly values "the researcher's commitment to transferring her knowledge into therapies useful to citizens."

Environmental and Earth Sciences

The study 2024 Europe Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change: unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action, led by researchers Kim van Daalen (first author) and Rachel Lowe (research leader). The jury highlights "the components of innovation, the scope, its relevant scientific contribution and the broad international collaboration." The publication establishes "a reference point for interdisciplinary research on the impacts of climate change on health, as well as proposing political changes and applied solutions in relation to mitigation and adaptation strategies to these impacts." In addition, the jury continues, "it does so considering criteria of equity, justice and populations at risk, so its results, in addition to being scientifically rigorous and innovative, also have an important social component."