About
In this first stage, the catalogue focuses on the modern and contemporary architecture designed and built between 1832 –year of construction of the first industrial chimney in Barcelona that we establish as the beginning of modernity– until today.
The project is born to make the architecture more accessible both to professionals and to the citizens through a website that is going to be updated and extended. Contemporary works of greater general interest will be incorporated, always with a necessary historical perspective, while gradually adding works from our past, with the ambitious objective of understanding a greater documented period.
The collection feeds from multiple sources, mainly from the generosity of architectural and photographic studios, as well as the large amount of excellent historical and reference editorial projects, such as architectural guides, magazines, monographs and other publications. It also takes into consideration all the reference sources from the various branches and associated entities with the COAC and other collaborating entities related to the architectural and design fields, in its maximum spectrum.
Special mention should be made of the incorporation of vast documentation from the COAC Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.
The rigour and criteria for selection of the works has been stablished by a Documental Commission, formed by the COAC’s Culture Spokesperson, the director of the COAC Historical Archive, the directors of the COAC Digital Archive, and professionals and other external experts from all the territorial sections that look after to offer a transversal view of the current and past architectural landscape around the territory.
The determination of this project is to become the largest digital collection about Catalan architecture; a key tool of exemplar information and documentation about architecture, which turns into a local and international referent, for the way to explain and show the architectural heritage of a territory.
About us
Project by: 
Created by: 
Directors:
2019-2024 Aureli Mora i Omar OrnaqueDocumental Commission:
2019-2024 Ramon Faura Carolina B. Garcia Eduard Callís Francesc Rafat Pau Albert Antoni López Daufí Joan Falgueras Mercè Bosch Jaume Farreny Anton Pàmies Juan Manuel Zaguirre Josep Ferrando Fernando Marzá Moisés Puente Aureli Mora Omar OrnaqueCollaborators:
2019-2024 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Maria Jesús Quintero Lucía M. Villodres Montse ViuExternal Collaborators:
2019-2024 Helena Cepeda Inès MartinelWith the support of:
Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de CulturaCollaborating Entities:
ArquinFADFundació Mies van der Rohe
Fundación DOCOMOMO Ibérico
Basílica de la Sagrada Família
Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
Fomento
AMB
EINA Centre Universitari de Disseny i Art de Barcelona
IEFC
Fundació Domènench Montaner.
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We kindly invite you to help us improve the dissemination of Catalan architecture through this space. Here you can propose works and provide or amend information on authors, photographers and their work, along with adding comments. The Documentary Commission will analyze all data. Please do only fill in the fields you deem necessary to add or amend the information.
The Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya is one of the most important documentation centers in Europe, which houses the professional collections of more than 180 architects whose work is fundamental to understanding the history of Catalan architecture. By filling this form, you can request digital copies of the documents for which the Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya manages the exploitation of the author's rights, as well as those in the public domain. Once the application has been made, the Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya will send you an approximate budget, which varies in terms of each use and purpose.
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Chronology (5)
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Canteens of the SEAT Automobile Factory
Manuel Barbero Rebolledo, Rafael de la Joya, César Ortiz-Echagüe
Located in the SEAT industrial complex, this building is conceived as a refuge to rescue workers from the monotony of work in the factory during the lunch break. Its comb-shaped organisation allows the formation of landscaped patios between the dining rooms and isolation from the industrial context. The opaque ends face the street; the glass façades open onto the interior patios creating a sequence of transparencies through the garden. The different elements of the project arise from the concept of standardisation: the rhythm of the façades is determined by the pillars and almost all the materials are dry assembled. The rigorous study of the details and the facilities provides an industrial aspect to the construction that contrasts with the organic forms of the urbanisation and the gardening. To reduce the stresses, since the land on which it was located was filled, an aluminum structure founded on floating reinforced concrete slabs was used. This was an innovation on an international scale, due to the use of a technology that until then had only been used in the aeronautical industry. In 1957 he was awarded the Reynolds Prize for buildings made of aluminum; The jury included Mies van der Rohe and W. M. Dudok. -
FAD Award
Shortlisted. Category: ArchitectureSEAT Subsidiary, Showroom and Office BuildingLaboratories of the SEAT Automobile Factory
Rafael Echaide, César Ortiz-Echagüe
The building is intended to house the laboratories where the quality controls of the materials used in the manufacture of automobiles are carried out. It is conceived as a technical product and is surrounded by landscaped flower beds that filter the exterior, softening the harshness of the industrial environment. It is an abstract prism defined by a system of lines and planes where not only the constructive function can be read, but also the calligraphy of some details that do not hide their debt to Mies, the architect who had awarded the author in 1957 for the project of the canteens for the same company. The program is divided by floors, one for each type of laboratory: mechanical tests on the ground floor, physical tests on the first floor, and chemical tests on the second floor. The reinforced concrete structure guides the interior space according to needs, creating a bay on each façade and another one with a narrower interior for circulation. The air ducts and the forklift are in this central corridor. In this way, the work areas remain free of pillars and can be divided according to need. To achieve a transparent interior space, the partitions are solved with glass from the working height to the ceiling.Home and Art School
Rafael Echaide, César Ortiz-Echagüe, Joan Rius i Camps
The Escola Llar is located in the Bonanova neighbourhood, an area for high income people. It is a school that belongs to Opus Dei and is dedicated to the education of future housewives, which is why it combines the general characteristics of an educational centre with the atmosphere of a family home. The building is structured in an H-shape, with different extensions of arms and bridges. As a result of the functional layout, a rather opaque volume is generated, which is cut off by a horizontal side of windows and terraces for the classrooms, which need a lot of light and a lot of terrace as a rest and outdoor teaching area. The combination of patios, terraces, bridges, cantilevers and recesses establishes a system of interconnected openings that give continuity to the outdoor spaces and at the same time introduce the garden into the building. The structure of reinforced concrete pillars is integrated into the thickness of the façade. On the outside, the ground floor and the outer fence are clad with natural stone in a saw-cut manner, as if it were a plinth, while the walls of the three upper floors are clad with artificial stone, which is almost white.