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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Square building that forms a corner, located in the Eixample of Barcelona. It consists of a ground floor (integrated by semi-basement and mezzanine), main floor and three other landings. It presents a symmetrical, elegant and stately façade, with a profusion of historicist sculptural details. Apart from these, what is most emphasised are the pilasters located at both ends of the chamfer and the three tribunes on the main floor (two on the sides and one in the centre).
In the very middle of the building's basement is the entrance portal, with a door in the form of a semicircular arch that is flanked by single columns of the Tuscan order and fluted shaft. Crowning each capital there are corbels with floral ornaments that support the central tribune of the main floor. In the centre of both corbels there is the large key of the vault, which contains some initials. There are six windows on the mezzanine: two in the centre of the façade and four on the flared sides. The first are triforous, that is to say, they are divided by columns into three gaps, and have a balustrade. However, the latter are of two different types. Some are bifurcated, which means that they are divided in two by a central column. On the other hand, the others (located at the lateral ends) do not present any kind of division, although they have single columns on the sides. Again, all of them are accompanied by balustrade. The aforementioned windows, both central and on the sides, have corbels at their top that decorate the lower part of the balconies immediately above. This arrangement is the same in all cases, with the exception of the bay windows which, as they are just below the tribunes, have a larger and more ornate corbel. To finish with the ground floor, we will mention that in its lower part (specifically, in the area corresponding to the semi-basement) it is followed by a plinth of different material and colour from the rest of the façade. Said plinth is decorated with chamfered ashlar stucco and a diamond shape. There are, in total, eleven openings with sparse and Tudor arches with a very marked key and single columns on the sides with fluted capitals.
On the next level we find the main floor, which is the most ornate of all (as the floors go up, they simplify or lose the decorative elements). The presence of three tribunes stands out, a central one of larger dimensions and two lateral ones. The central tribune has a chamfered square shape with the glass divided by eight Tuscan columns. The soffit of the arches and the lower closing wall of the tribune (on which the columns are arranged) are profusely arranged and decorated with different types of flowers, grouped to form a knob or in garlands. The balustrade on the upper floor serves as the closure of this central tribune, giving it an even more majestic appearance. As for the lateral tribunes, both have a semicircular shape and are identical, in design and decorative elements (including the upper balustrade), to the one just described. If you observe from the street, you will see that the lower part of the stands have sgraffitos in cream and ocher tones. The main floor is completed by several balconies flanked by pilasters which, above, are topped with an ornate mullion and corbels that support the next balcony, while the lower part has a balustrade.
The first and second floors have identical balconies that repeat the same pattern as those previously described, with pilasters and abundant stucco decoration on their corbels. The balconies are closed in their lower part by wrought iron railings, except for the two central viewpoints on the first floor, which have balustrades. The placement of this obeys, simply, to continue the ornamentation of the tribune of the main floor. The third and last floor is by far the simplest of all, although that doesn't mean it doesn't feature decorative elements. In the balconies, two pilasters support a semicircular arch that has a vegetal crowning.
Yet another element should be highlighted, which is common on all the floors: four columns, located on the sides of the building's chamfers, which start from ground level and trace the entire façade. In the basement area, the shaft shows horizontal lines in perfect alignment with the ashlars, while in the space between the main and second floors, it is Solomonic and topped by a historic capital. As expected, on the fifth floor the shaft loses all ornamentation.
The current crowning has no embellishment, being simply a continuous ashlar frieze. Originally, the building featured an impressive crowning consisting of five central medallions with an upper rosette, two turrets ending in pointed domes at the chamfered angles and a last side medallion, also with its rosette.
The lobby of the building has a rococo feel and is highly decorated with white plaster reliefs. In the first term we find a basket-handle arch supported on columns of the Tuscan order, which precedes the marble staircase, with a very ornate pillar crowned by a lantern followed by a balustrade. The half-point vaulted ceiling has a fresco painting with angels and floral elements.
In 1907 it won the prize for the best building completed the previous year, although its architect, Josep Pérez i Terraza, could not savour it, given that he died precisely in 1906. This information is contained in an iron plate found in the façade.