Roca  has  presented  the  awards  of  the  sixth  edition  of  the international design contest jumpthegap, through the prestigious Chinese architect Ma Yansong, president of the jury, in a ceremony held at the Roca Madrid Gallery. In the Professional category, the awarded project has been “Btwist”, from the Spanish Irene Cañada and Raquel Prendes, and in the Student category, the project “[Aria] 2”, from Samuele Nucaro and Cristina Tu Ahn Pham, two Italian students, has been the winner. Both projects have been awarded 6,000 Euros.

“Btwist”, the winning project in the Professional category, consists of an innovative solution for the bathroom space. It is a basin that combines three different dimensions for different uses. Through its design, as explained by the winners, the project allows the fulfillment of various actions at the same time. “[Aria]2”, on the other hand, winner in the Student category, is the perfect combination of accessibility, speed and innovation. The solution for the bathroom space proposed by the Italian couple is a shower that carries out the soaking-drying effect. Designed for modern bathrooms, the project creates an innovative shower with multiple uses.

For the first time the biennial competition organized since 2004 by Roca in collaboration with Barcelona Design Centre (BCD), has awarded the Sustainability Prize, which was presented by the We Are Water Foundation and consisted of 3,000 Euros. The proposals combining an innovative and sustainable design have therefore been recognized. The winning project has been “Plura”, from Katharina Sophie Wohlleben and Larissa Siemon. The Germans propose a basin that uses a pedal to activate the faucet with the aim of avoiding the waste of water, this being the focus of the project.

This year the competition has obtained a global participation from 112 different countries (3,700 contestants). The finalists of this edition in their different categories have been:

Professional Category:

• Oigami Bath: Andrey Lebedev (Russia)
• Roca Analytic: Joan Alba and Iago Buceta (Spain)
• Nanosoap: Pablo Luchino (Argentina)

Sudent Category:

• Totem: Marta Muñoz and Helena Galí (Spain)
• GLOVES: clean & dry: Halszka Barelkowska (Poland)
• B-thin: Victoria Bellido and Angel Cobo (Spain)

The award ceremony at the Roca Madrid Gallery was attended by around 200 guests. Apart from the president of the jury Ma Yansong, who has received numerous awards, among them the Young Global Leaders 2014 (YGL), leading figures in the fields of design and architecture, such as Jaime Moreno, National Design Award, and Ms. Liu Wengiu, Minister Counsellor of Culture in the Embassy of China, have also been present.

The jury of this edition was made up of Marcelo Rosenbaum (Brazil), Designer and Director of the design and innovation office Rosenbaum; Tom Dyckhoff (United Kingdom), journalist and architecture critic; Guta Moura (Portugal), Co-founder of Experimenta and Director of EXD Biennale; Josep Congost (Spain), Director of the Roca Design Center; Rafael de La-Hoz, Architect (Spain), Patron of the Contemporary Architecture Foundation; Isabel Roig (Spain), Managing Director of BCD (Barcelona Design Centre) and former President of BEDA (Bureau of European Design Associations).

Click here to see the Awards gallery: