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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Building between partitions located on Carrer Aragó, between Rambla de Catalunya and Carrer de Balmes. It consists of a ground floor, six floors and a flat roof. On the ground floor there are five symmetrical openings, with the main door in the centre framed by a flat moulding, a rectangular window on either side and large doors at the ends. The upper floors are pierced by large horizontal tripartite windows that follow the same vertical axes as the ground floor openings. The wall of the last floor is set back with respect to the façade, leaving a terrace in front with some smooth columns that support the eaves of the roof. The fact that this wall is set back and that the roof has a slight overhang creates a game of light and shadows on the façade. As the only decoration, you can see that the wall occupied by the three central axes is slightly advanced as if it were a pilaster crowned with a thin cornice. A smooth moulding separates the fourth floor from the fifth.
Building commissioned by Nestlé to house its offices. Between 1934 and 1935, the building was built, consisting of a ground floor and four floors, but in 1957 an extension was made where two more floors were added. In 1982, the architects Gelpí, Henry and Rovira carried out a general refurbishment in order to accommodate Government offices.