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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
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.
An isolated building, located in the central district of the town, on a 3480 square metre plot of land, with the building occupying only 382.70 square metres (17.20 metres wide by 22.25 metres deep). It has a ground floor and two upper floors with a central courtyard for light and ventilation, where the staircase leading to the first floor is located.
It has a regular and symmetrical façade composition with vertical axes of openings, in slightly trefoil arches, with alternating balconies with iron railings and windows. The central axis of the main façade contains the lintelled doorway and the representative balcony, with a voussoired arch and the coat of arms of the town council in relief on the keystone. Above the cornice, a mixtilinear pediment. The doorway leads to a courtyard with a grand staircase around which the rooms are organised. The courtyard and staircase are designed in the tradition of the Catalan Gothic house, a Noucentista feature which, together with the rationality and simplification of the forms, gives character to the building.
The roof is made of wood and tiles. The material used is brick.
The work was promoted by the mayor of the time, Jaume Biadiu Morera, because the premises occupied by the Town Hall were needed for housing.
The awarding of the works to Jeroni Martorell without a prior tender was motivated by his acquaintance with the town hall secretary Mario Arnal Duran.
The building was born as a Town Hall and Public Schools, which were two separate buildings attached to both sides of the town hall. Of the two annexes, one no longer exists today and the other was never even built.