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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Stone building, almost triangular in plan and three stories high. It has a central body covered by a hip roof. On both sides of this central body there are two lateral bodies that advance on the north and south façades. On the first floor, all three bodies are connected by a balcony, also made of stone. The finishes have wavy shapes that recall Gaudí's style. At the back of the house there is a garden, enclosed by a modernist gate with wrought iron bars bearing the name of the building.
It was built in 1914 by who was the municipal architect then: Salvador Valeri i Pupurull.
Stone building, almost triangular in plan and three stories high. It has a central body covered with gables, on the upper floor of which is the moulded lace of an ancient shield or ornament that has now disappeared, but its trace has survived. On either side of this central body there are two lateral bodies that advance on the north and south façades.
On the first floor, all three bodies are connected by a balcony, also made of stone. The finishes are developed in wavy shapes reminiscent of Gaudí's style. At the back of the house there is a garden, closed by a modernist gate with iron bars on which the name of the building is written. It is the result of an interesting work of forging, largely done by a blacksmith of the town.
Construction made with stone extracted from Les Escletxes, before there was a quarry (1952-60) installed by the cement industry (Faura, 1996: 140).
In 1918, the heirs of Miquel Bou present an instance to the town hall, where they declare themselves the owners of the properties called Casa Peró, Casa Figueres and Casa Bial, located on Carrer del Ferrocarris, and ask for permission to search for them and for them to be given the remaining plot of public union of the dead-end alley that leads to two of these estates. In return, they lend land to the town hall to give the street a constant width of 6 metres. The city council accepts the works in exchange for the payment of the established rates (Ahicart et al., 2019).
The designer of the building was Salvador Valeri i Pupurull (Barcelona, 1873-1954), an architect who is part of the second generation of Catalan modernist architects, with relevant works such as Casa Comalat (Barcelona).
Valeri i Pupurull is considered the most characteristic author of the municipal area of Papiol, with an important footprint in the Baix Llobregat: Can Trian, Casa Gensana and Fàbrica Prats (Sant Vicenç dels Horts), the Casino de Sant Andreu de la Barca, wineries in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, etc.
The architect Salvador Valeri Pupurull (Barcelona, 1873-1954) was the son of Joan Valeri i Anglà, a builder originally from Oristà, in Osona. He graduated from the Barcelona School of Architecture in 1899. He is from the second generation of modernist architects. His works are characterised by the use of wavy pediments, ornaments of floral derivation and modelling of materials in forms of free composition, as well as by great exuberance.
In the early 1920s, the Papiol blacksmith forged the railings, with the exception of the door which was commissioned from an outside blacksmith (Faura, 1996: 180).
Casa de Pedra was one of the stops on the route of the Corpus Christi procession (Faura: 1996, 266).
It is one of the most unique buildings in the municipality, which can be seen on the southern side of the town and rises up dominating the Llobregat valley, while the main access to the house opens on Carrer de l'Abat Escarré, thus avoiding the great unevenness of the plot on which the building was built. Primitivism of materials, organic forms and undulations in voids and other ornamental elements dominate the composition of the building, which tries to combine with the geology of the population, and which is in line with the building of the castle that is dominant above this house.