Designing for inclusion: meet the winning project of the 2026 Best High School Final Project Award
The research by Laia Pujol (Escola Daina Isard) on ergonomics in the school setting stands out for its rigor and social impact. Jan Armadans (Institut Pius Font i Quer) and Maria Fernández (Escola d’Art de Vic) are the finalists.
Every year, LCI Barcelona holds the Best High School Final Project Award, and this is already the ninth edition. It’s a competition that recognizes the research projects that best connect with design and creativity. Out of all the entries, submitted by students from public, private, and state-subsidized schools across Catalonia, the jury has decided to honor “Disseny inclusiu per a l’aprenentatge,” by Laia Pujol Ferrés (Escola Daina Isard).
A classroom designed for students
After observing daily life at Ca n’Oriol, a center specializing in children with motor and cerebral difficulties, Laia designed several devices to improve posture and stability in the classroom: leg and chair stops and an adjustable footrest. The jury praised her excellence across all the dimensions evaluated: methodological rigor, a solid theoretical foundation, coherence between objectives, research and conclusions, the social relevance of the topic, and graphic work that reinforces the results.
As the winner, Laia will receive a 24-inch Apple iMac, and her school, Escola Daina Isard, a set of books from Editorial GG worth 200 euros.
The finalist projects
The jury also wanted to recognize two very different projects as finalists:
“La importància de la bioinspiració en el disseny aeronàutic,” by Jan Armadans Juberó (Institut Pius Font i Quer), explores how nature inspires more efficient wings, with three prototypes tested in the wind tunnel at EPSEM (UPC). The jury recognized the quality of his research, the clarity of his hypotheses, and solid, well-argued conclusions.
“Les metamorfosis al llarg de la vida. Creació d’un artbook,” by Maria Fernández Torrent (Escola d’Art de Vic), brings together five characters who represent the stages of life, from childhood to old age. The jury singled out her artistic sensitivity, the maturity of the proposal, and the coherence between the research process and the final result.
Both will receive a Polaroid camera as finalists.
Congratulations to Laia, Jan, and Maria! With this award, we want to keep supporting young talent drawn to the creative industries through their final high school projects.