5th International Competition for Architecture Students Announced
Piscina Barcelona challenges students to imagine an aquatic center in the heart of Park Güell
Are you bold enough to design an aquatic center in one of the most iconic sites of Catalan modernism? With this proposal, Piscina Barcelona announces the fifth edition of its International Competition for Architecture and Landscape Architecture Students, and this year the creative challenge is located in the heart of Park Güell, right over the monumental Plaça de la Natura and the iconic Hypostyle Hall designed by Antoni Gaudí.
This is not the first time Piscina Barcelona has chosen a Gaudí-inspired setting for its competition aimed at future architects from around the world. In 2021, students were already challenged to imagine a public aquatic space in front of the Sagrada Família. In previous editions, other emblematic sites of Barcelona served as settings, such as the Arc de Triomf, Port Vell, or the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc. This year, the fair invites students to rethink how water—a source of life, health, and well-being—could coexist with the colorful mosaics, organic forms, and natural surroundings of the dreamlike Park Güell.
Under the technical coordination of Naos Arquitectura, the competition proposes a completely theoretical design for a public aquatic center, interpreting this concept in the broadest sense: from sports or recreational swimming pools to relaxation areas, spas, leisure spaces, or hybrid proposals. The project must functionally address access points, interior circulation, locker rooms, and additional spaces necessary for the facility’s use and the management of an aquatic center of this nature. Anything goes, as long as it is approached with creativity, functionality, sustainability, and a special sensitivity toward the landscape and architectural heritage.
In addition to designing the aquatic facility, participants must organize and design the remaining space based on criteria of biodiversity and urban harmony, in line with the Barcelona Green and Biodiversity Plan 2020. The competition also emphasizes innovation, the introduction of new uses and solutions for water, and the use of eco-friendly materials, rewarding environmental sustainability in all its dimensions.
Open Participation and Cash Prizes
This competition is open to students of Architecture and/or Landscape Architecture from any country in the world, as long as they are enrolled at some point in 2025 in a school or faculty offering these disciplines. Proposals may be submitted individually or in teams, even with participants from different fields, though at least one member must be studying architecture. The competition will award various cash prizes to the three best projects.
Sketches must be submitted on a maximum of two A1-size PDF sheets, including plans, diagrams, renderings, explanatory texts, and all necessary material to understand the project. The registration deadline is September 20, 2025. Afterward, participants will have an additional month to submit their projects. Full competition rules are available at www.piscinabarcelona.es.
The jury—comprising representatives from the Spanish Association of Landscape Architects (AEP), the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC), the General Sports Council, Naos Arquitectura, and the competition’s sponsor company, Fluidra—will evaluate each project based on criteria such as innovation and creativity, functionality and usability, aesthetic and design quality, and sustainability and use of eco-friendly materials.
Exhibition and Awards Ceremony
The winning projects, along with other notable entries, will be showcased to the public during the Piscina Barcelona trade show, which will be held from November 17 to 20, 2025, at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona. The awards ceremony will take place on November 17, at the fair’s “Outdoor & Wellness Experience” activity area.
Across its four previous editions, this competition has gathered over 200 students from around twenty countries. The initiative aims to promote and give visibility to the talent and creativity of future generations of architects and landscape architects, offering them a platform to express their vision and potential in designing innovative and sustainable aquatic spaces. It also seeks to encourage reflection, solution-driven imagination, and new perspectives on the relationship between human beings, architecture, aquatic facilities, and the enjoyment of water.
About Piscina Barcelona
The International Competition for Architecture and Landscape Architecture Students is part of the activities program of Piscina Barcelona, which also hosts the Piscina Barcelona Awards for the best residential and public-use swimming pools, and for the most innovative product at the fair in two categories: connectivity and sustainability. The event also includes the Wellness Experience Awards for the best spas and wellness establishments, wellness clinics, thermal centers, and wellness destinations, as well as the new Outdoor Awards for outdoor space design.
Organized by Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with the sector association ASOFAP, Piscina Barcelona is the most internationally oriented European fair for the pool, wellness, and outdoor industry. This year, the trade show is expected to occupy more than 40,000 gross m², featuring 400 exhibitors from 30 countries—including leading global brands—and attracting 14,000 professional visitors, 60% of whom are international.
Barcelona, May 2025
María Dolores Herranz / Gloria Dilluvio
Tel. +34 93 233 25 41 – 21 72
mdherranz@firabarcelona.com
gdilluvio@firabarcelona.com