The Olot-based firm RCR Arquitectes will receive the Manel Xifra Award for Technical and Technological Knowledge Transfer on 28 April in Girona. This honour comes in the same year that Barcelona holds the title of World Capital of Architecture, recognising the firm's role in positioning the Garrotxa region on the global architectural map.
The Manel Xifra i Boada Awards are organised by the College of Graduate Engineers and Industrial Technical Engineers of Girona and Comexi Group. They collaborate with the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), the Government of Catalonia, and the University of Girona. These awards have, for 21 years, distinguished individuals and institutions that transmit talent, knowledge, and innovation within Catalonia's technological field.
This year, RCR Arquitectes follows Ferran Adrià, who received the award last year. The ceremony will take place at the Josep Irla Auditorium in Girona and will be presided over by the Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat Pulido.
RCR's Global Reach from Olot
RCR Arquitectes, founded by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta, has worked together in Olot since 1988. Their trajectory shows a projection far beyond their immediate surroundings. In 2017, they received the Pritzker Prize, often called the Nobel of Architecture, proving that excellence does not need to reside in major capitals. Their architecture, deeply rooted in the landscape, sensory, and built from its specific location, has led to projects across Europe, America, and Asia, always with the Garrotxa as their compass and laboratory.
However, the Manel Xifra i Boada Awards jury is not honouring them solely for their buildings. The award recognises their work beyond architectural projects. Through the RCR Bunka Foundation and the RCR LAB·A research space, the firm has opened architectural reflection to a wider audience. They offer workshops in photography, dance, philosophy, and spatial perception for people who may never commission a building but leave these sessions looking at the world differently. This recognition also coincides with the Garrotxa Museum's first retrospective exhibition of the studio, which covers four decades of work and inspiration.
IREC and Elisenda Pagès Also Honoured
The Applied Research Group or Technology Centre Award goes to the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) this year. IREC's approach is clear: researching sustainable energy solutions is not enough if these solutions do not reach industry and, by extension, society. At a time when energy transition has moved from a laboratory debate to a daily urgency, IREC represents exactly what the awards aim to recognise: knowledge that does not remain theoretical.
Regarding the Best Professional Career Award, Elisenda Pagès Feliu will receive it, making her the first woman to win the award in its 21 editions. An Industrial Technical Engineer specialising in electronics, Pagès has a 30-year career at the insulating panel company Huurre Iberica in Cassà de la Selva. She established the Quality Department and has led industrial transformation and technological innovation projects in a technical field where female presence remains a minority. The jury valued not only the quality of her career but also her ability to make it visible and a reference for future generations.
