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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
The house was designed by Mitjans during his time as a student, before the Spanish Civil War, and under the predominant influence of the ideas of the GATCPAC. In the same way as other architects of the time, he starts from a neoclassical scheme, linked to the brick factory, and alters it with absolute freedom, in accordance with the programme and the interpretation of the site. The house rises one floor to favour the sea views. It is accessed tangentially from the terrace, linked to the living room, on the south façade. The west wing is used for bedrooms and is slightly higher than the rest of the house. The east wing contains only the kitchen and service rooms, and leaves room for large terraces that act as a cover for the wheeled access. Five cylindrical pillars protect the terrace from the access on the west side and shape the image of the house seen from the promenade.
This is a construction that Mitjans carried out before finishing his degree, which is why it is not listed as his work, but rather that of the architect Marco Cortina. The house is located on the seafront, and most of the programme takes place on the upper floor in a U shape to favour views of the beach over the plot fence. In the central part of the U there is the day area, in one of the arms the night area and, in the other, an area reserved for guests. The ground floor is square-shaped, has two patios and contains the rooms. In the volumetry, the reinforced concrete slab of the roof stands out, which extends forming a Z-shaped canopy. This slab rests on one side on a load-bearing wall that protects the terrace from the prevailing winds. On the other side, it rests on five double-height round stainless-steel pillars. The beach setting, the significant presence of three palm trees, the volumetry of the house and the materials used reflect extensive knowledge of Californian architecture. But we should not understand this knowledge as something isolated, but as part of the training received within the GATCPAC, of which Mitjans was a student member.