Architect Olga Felip Ordis has been named as the winner of the FPdGi Arts and Literature Award 2015. The jury, which announced its decision this afternoon in Barcelona, wanted to recognise the winner’s demonstrated ability to combine the creation of new forms with respect for the environment, and her sober, elegant, warm and bright designs which instil a sense of harmony in the user, the viewer and the landscape.

In this sixth edition of the FPdGi Awards, the jury for the Arts and Literature category was formed of the cellist Lluís Claret, journalist Pepa Fernández Vallés, FPdGi Arts and Literature Award 2013 winner Auxiliadora Toledano, theatre director and producer Josep Maria Pou, and writer and art and literature critic Sergi Vila-Sanjuán. The members of the jury said were very impressed by the quality of all the nominees and by the diversity of disciplines these candidates represented.

After the winner was announced, at the CaixaForum in Barcelona, the audience were treated to a performance entitled Concert per a Pintura (Concert for Painting) by the artist Hugo Fontela, winner of the Arts and Literature category in the last edition of the FPdGi Awards. In a show combining music and painting, Fontela invited the audience to watch part of the creative process behind his paintings, accompanied by the music of Bach's Goldberg Variations performed by Glenn Gould. The aim was to reveal the visual beauty of creating a work of art from its conception, a process that usually only the artist can enjoy, and which in this performance ended with the destruction of the painting.

The FPdGi Awards recognise the innovative and exemplary work of young people aged between 16 and 35 years, and that of an organisation working for young people. With a prize of €10,000 and a reproduction of a sculpture by Juan Muñoz, the awards will be presented during the IMPULSA Forum 2015, in an event being held on 25 June which will be presided over by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain.

The open call for nominations for this edition of the awards received a total of 167 entries, of which 40 were for the Arts and Literature category.

Olga Felip Ordis, FPdGi Arts and Literature Award

Born in Girona (1980), Olga Felip Ordis graduated in architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB at the UPC) in 2005. She was taught by Carles Ferrater, Elías Torres and Carme Pigem. During the final year of her degree she worked as an intern at the studio of Carme Pinós. She also complemented her studies by participating in international exchange programmes at ESALA Edinburgh, ENSA Belleville Paris, UCLA, AA London and UIAV Venice. In 2006 she set up her own studio together with Josep Camps. In 2009 she obtained a Master of Advanced Studies from the Department of Theory and History of Architecture at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), and is currently writing her doctoral thesis at the same department.

She has lectured at the Architectural Association School of London and the BIArch_Barcelona Institute of Architecture. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally: Barcelona, Madrid, Venice, London, Tokyo and Buenos Aires, among others. She was also invited as a guest speaker by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Some of her best-known work includes Plaça de l’Absis at Tortosa Cathedral, the Ferreries Civic Centre, the Jesús swimming pools, the L’Aldea medical centre and the Museum of Energy in Ascó. She was named Young Architect of the Year 2010 by the LEAF Awards and was awarded the 40under40 prize by the European Centre of Architecture and the Chicago Athenaeum. Olga Felip was the winner of the Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard 2011 and the Association of Architects of Catalonia’s AJAC prize. In 2012 she was chosen to represent Catalonia at the Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2013 she won the AJ Emerging Woman of the Year award.

Princess of Girona Foundation Awards 2015

The Princess of Girona Foundation awards these prizes every year with the aim of recognising the innovative and exemplary work of young people aged between 16 and 35 years, and that of an organisation working for young people. The goal is to promote and foster initiative and effort in the areas of scientific research, artistic creativity, solidarity and the development of talent in entrepreneurial and innovative young people.

The Princess of Girona Foundation Awards comprise four individual prizes and one for organisations. In addition to the Arts and Literature category, there are also:

• The FPdGi Organisation Award, which recognises the outstanding work of entrepreneurial institutions that work for young people, fostering entrepreneurial spirit, employment and employability, education and academic success, vocation and talent.
• The FPdGi Social Award,which recognises young people who, through their leadership and personal commitment, have successfully created and promoted projects that foster the integration of marginalised people and groups or those at risk of exclusion, with a new vision and through social entities or businesses.
• The FPdGi Scientific Research Award,which recognises the work of young scientists, including those working in human and social sciences, with projects or experiences that show strong potential for future development.
• The FPdGi Business Award, which recognises young people with entrepreneurial initiative who have led or promoted original and viable business projects that stand out for their positive impact on society.

 

The calendar of jury meetings and winner announcements for the remaining categories is: Organisation (24 March, in Langreo), Social (26 March, in Figueres), Scientific Research (9 April, in Madrid) and Business (20 April, in Girona).