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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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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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Memory
The open debate on the Born’s use and the work done on the compatibility between the ruins and the Provincial Library concluded with the municipal decision to propose a Cultural Centre that would incorporate the site as an active part of the new facility.
Decided for this purpose, the building attached to the Born was built on 5 Comercial Street, and it becomes essential in order to locate the technical elements of the facilities (air conditioning, power supply, transformer station, etc.).
In parallel with the construction of the annex building, a platform was built inside the Old Market to protect the site and to recover the work plan on which to proceed with the restoration and construction of the cultural centre.
Broadly speaking, the main restoration tasks focused on the construction of the new roof and its structural consolidation, the restoration of the cast elements (pillars, channels, structural and ornamental elements, the set of the central lantern, the stairs and exterior walkways, the interior staircase for access to the roof, etc.), the closure of façades (cast iron elements, glass, skylights, brick walls, etc.), and the evacuation system of waters. The project included structural operations aimed at reusing the Market as a Cultural Centre, in particular the structure of the slabs that make up the upper level of the site and which is directly related to the outdoor space of the Cultural Centre and the network of stormwater drainage of the whole.
In July 2010, the architect Rafael de Cáceres resigned from the work for the reasons set out in the document Carta al Born, which you can find on the blog: http://rafaelcaceresarquitecte.blogspot.com.es/
Authors
On the Map
Awarded
Cataloged
Disappeared
All works
Constellation
Chronology (8)
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Born Market
Josep Maria Cornet i Mas, Josep Fontserè i Mestre
El Born Market is a key part of the urbanisation plan that gave rise to Ciutadella Park when it was demolished in the mid-19th century. A series of long and narrow islands are arranged parallel to the direction of the park and deliver it against the Ribera district. The heart of the intervention is a public square flanked by Mercat del Born (Barcelona's wholesale market). The original market was conceived as a covered square with a very light roof, the work of Josep Maria Cornet i Mas. This roof has the shape of a cross inscribed on the perimeter of the market, formed by asymmetrical gabled arms with skylights on the ridge, raised in relation to other groups of identical roofs. There is an octagonal dome with a lantern in the cross. The enclosures of the market are opaque up to half height and remain covered (as are the jumps between roofs) by a metal blind, almost a mesh, which introduces a nuanced, almost religious light. The market was abandoned in 1971 and survives abandoned during the Olympic Games. When, finally, it was intended to house the Provincial Library of Barcelona, its architects, Enric Sòria and Rafael de Cáceres, found the remains of the old neighbourhood of La Ribera in an optimal state of conservation. Currently, the building is still under construction to house part of the Museum of the History of the City which will deal with the preservation of these ruins under the structure of the archaeologically restored market. The new intervention has perimeter platforms that will allow a view of the ruins while keeping the space of the roundabout intact. The museum programme will be housed in cubicles arranged in the square. The entire intervention will be public and will restore the character of a square that Mediterranean markets have. -
FAD Award
Shortlisted. Category: RestorationEl Born MarketFAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner (opinion). Category: RestorationEl Born MarketBorn Centre Cultural
Rafael de Cáceres Zurita, Enric Sòria i Badia
The open debate on the Born’s use and the work done on the compatibility between the ruins and the Provincial Library concluded with the municipal decision to propose a Cultural Centre that would incorporate the site as an active part of the new facility. Decided for this purpose, the building attached to the Born was built on 5 Comercial Street, and it becomes essential in order to locate the technical elements of the facilities (air conditioning, power supply, transformer station, etc.). In parallel with the construction of the annex building, a platform was built inside the Old Market to protect the site and to recover the work plan on which to proceed with the restoration and construction of the cultural centre. Broadly speaking, the main restoration tasks focused on the construction of the new roof and its structural consolidation, the restoration of the cast elements (pillars, channels, structural and ornamental elements, the set of the central lantern, the stairs and exterior walkways, the interior staircase for access to the roof, etc.), the closure of façades (cast iron elements, glass, skylights, brick walls, etc.), and the evacuation system of waters. The project included structural operations aimed at reusing the Market as a Cultural Centre, in particular the structure of the slabs that make up the upper level of the site and which is directly related to the outdoor space of the Cultural Centre and the network of stormwater drainage of the whole. In July 2010, the architect Rafael de Cáceres resigned from the work for the reasons set out in the document Carta al Born, which you can find on the blog: http://rafaelcaceresarquitecte.blogspot.com.es/Premi Ciutat de Barcelona
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Architecture and UrbanismBorn Centre CulturalFAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureBorn Centre CulturalAudiovisual
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5:55
TV3 - Espai tricentenari 1714-2014 - El Born, de les pedres a les persones
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5:03
Va passar aquí - El Born, mercat de mercats - betevé
