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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
La Mina is a neighbourhood made up of blocks of flats that form part of the construction typology of the so-called absorption polygons or dormitory neighbourhoods, originated in the 1960s and 1970s. These were intended to be cheap, quick and easy to build housing so that they could accommodate a large part of the population that had previously lived in shantytowns. The buildings of La Mina Nova are a projection of the social, political, economic and urban history of Barcelona, located in Sant Adrià de Besòs. There are two characteristic blocks: those in Carrer Ponent, no. 2-12, and those in Carrer Llevant, no. 1-23. Both are linear blocks, but Carrer Llevant has a larger number of dwellings, with 486 flats and 26 business premises, while Carrer Ponent has only 60 dwellings and 6 business premises. The two façades are practically the same: it is a horizontal façade, configured in continuous longitudinal strips throughout the building, alternating a solid lock formed by the prefabricated concrete sills which are covered with a 3 mm metal sheet, used to protect the concrete from the weather and increase thermal insulation, and a lock.
Historically, Sant Adrià de Besòs was an agricultural town, and the area now known as La Mina was characterised by an abundance of fields and some rural houses dedicated to farming. The existence of water mines used for irrigation is the explanation for the place name. The change from agricultural to industrial exploitation substantially affected the municipality, both in the urban and social spheres. Its location on the border with Barcelona, its access to the sea and the passage of the river favoured the establishment of different industries. These industries required a large workforce, making it possible to differentiate between two waves of immigration that conditioned the reality of Sant Adrià. In the first place, we find that of the 1920s and 1930s. The second wave was after the Spanish Civil War and the years that followed, when two different conditions accumulated: those who left for fear of being repressed by Franco's regime, and those who came to the Catalan capital in search of a job. In Barcelona, this resulted in large shantytowns, including Camp de la Bóta in Sant Adrià de Besòs. It is estimated that more than 10,000 shantytowns were built around Barcelona. In this context, in 1961, Barcelona approved a plan to eliminate shantytowns from the city. Thus, the current neighbourhood of La Mina was created to alleviate all the problems surrounding the shantytowns, being a housing estate that aimed to absorb the entire population of Camp de la Bóta and other shantytowns in Barcelona. The history of La Mina, then, began in 1967, with Porcioles as mayor of Barcelona, when the Barcelona town planning commission drew up a plan to build a residential area for shanty dwellers. The project stated that the neighbourhood was to have 2,100 homes, 7 kindergartens, 1 social centre, 1 health centre, 1 administrative centre and 1 parish centre. The reality is that the houses were built, but not most of the necessary facilities. La Mina was built in two phases and its architecture makes it easy to distinguish between them. Thus, the second phase, in 1972, is what we know as La Mina Nova - a group of buildings constructed with a tunnel formwork system, which allowed a very large number of dwellings to be built very quickly.
L35 Arquitectura, Juan Fernando de Mendoza, José Ignacio Galán Martínez, José Luis Martínez Honrubia, Guillermo Murtra Ferré
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Cèsar Díaz Gómez
Set Barri de La Mina