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The winning design, titled “Modular Network for Territorial Development,” stems from the concept of institutional connection among its 30 universities, understood as a network that articulates knowledge, communities, and territories. This new identity will be implemented across all CRUCH formats and platforms between November 2025 and January 2026.
Second and third place too They were left in the hands of students from the Design program at UACh: Pamela Vargas and Sigrid Fernández, respectively.
Starting in 2026, the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) will renew its visual identity with a design created by Danae Solervicens, a final-year student of Design at the Austral University of Chile, who won first place in the national competition “'Make history with your design: New CRUCH Brand Image'.’.
The awards ceremony took place on Friday, October 17th at the Austral University of Chile (UACh), in Valdivia, with the participation of the rector of the host university, Egon Montecinos; the General Secretary of CRUCH, Angélica Bosch; the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Felipe Pinto D'Aguiar; the Director of the School of Design of the UACh and member of the Network of Schools of Design of the CRUCH Universities (ReDis), Daniela Caro; as well as academics, family and friends.
On this occasion, those who obtained second and third place were also recognized, awards that were equally They were left in the hands of students from the Design program at UACh.
The Secretary General of CRUCH, Angélica Bosch, commented that the competition was organized as part of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary in August 2024 and was aimed at students from university communities. “We considered it important, thinking about the future, that the new generations be the ones to design this new image for the Council, which is why we made an open call to all undergraduate and graduate students from the universities that make up the Council.”.
For his part, Rector Dr. Egon Montecinos stated that this recognition is a source of prestige for the university and congratulated the students for their participation and the faculty members for their support. “We have a very good design program, an excellent Faculty, and an even better university (…) This award received by students of this program is a source of pride for UACh, as they make a concrete contribution with an image that represents CRUCH.”.
Winning proposal
The design that won first place is titled “Modular Network for Territorial Development” and stems from the concept of institutional connection among its 30 universities, understood as a network
Articulator of knowledge, communities, and territories. This new identity will be implemented across all CRUCH formats and platforms starting in 2026.
Upon receiving the award from the Secretary General of CRUCH and the Rector of UACh, Danae Solervicens thanked her professors for encouraging her to participate in the competition: “It was a very powerful project, because at the same time I was working on my thesis, but thanks to the support of my school I applied and won this award (…) My proposal consisted of abstracting the territory and, through the cap, as a university symbol, being able to capture the connection that existed between the territory and the universities,” she explained.
The Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Dr. Felipe Pinto d'Aguiar, commented that the talent, creativity and capacity of design to build identity and collective meaning were distinguished.
“At the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, we conceive of design from two main areas: Visuality, space, and discourse; and object, environment, and interaction. Both express the dialogue between the visual and the material, between representation and experience, between people and the territories we inhabit,” explained the Dean. He added that “the competition we are celebrating today embodies precisely that spirit: a collaborative exercise among design schools from across the country, which values diversity, creativity, and territorial identity as drivers of innovation and cohesion. This participation developed within the advanced elective course—Design in the Competitive Field—taught by Professor Gladys Araneda.”.
At the ceremony, students Pamela Vargas Vicencio was also recognized for her proposal “Autonomy, territory and tradition: a model of national development”; and Sigrid Fernández Muñoz for “Academic excellence as an organic pillar”, who obtained second and third place, respectively.
The three proposals had the support of academics from the UACh School of Design: Elisa Cordero Jahr; Gladys Araneda Padilla, and Daniela Caro Krebs.
About the contest
The competition was launched in December 2024 and included several stages: the open call to all undergraduate and postgraduate students of the 30 CRUCH universities; the admissibility; the technical evaluation of the proposals; the deliberation of the jury, and the consideration of the full council of CRUCH rectors in two of its sessions in June and August.
The CRUCH Design Schools Network (ReDis) participated in the process, and through the Technical Committee of Experts, collaborated in the preparation of the competition rules and the initial evaluation of the proposals.
Subsequently, the proposals were analyzed by a jury chaired by Rector Rodrigo Vidal, of the University of Santiago of Chile (USACH), and made up of: María Soledad Hola, Director of Corporate Design of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; Cristóbal Moreno, Director of the Department of Management Technologies of the University of Santiago; Daniela González, Director of Admission and Strategic Communications of the University of Tarapacá; and Sergio Seguel, independent specialist in communication and public relations.
Photos courtesy of UACh Communications
Text: CRUCh Communications (based on collaboration from UACh Communications)
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