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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Civil building located on the sea front of the town, oriented in such a way that it has a view of the sea. In the design of the building, much importance is given to the front, which is the only one with decoration.
The complex has a rectangular, elongated and narrow floor plan, and consists of a ground floor, two floors and a roof.
In front of the access door a small porch stands out, on two pillars and two pilasters, which supports the balcony of the upper floor. The second floor is organised by means of six small windows in the shape of a semicircular arch.
The decoration is the most interesting element. It follows a historicist style, with special reference to the Middle Ages with large mouldings, plant elements, chimeric animals and heraldry, represented by the Catalan shield in the centre of the façade.
House between partitions with a rectangular plan set back from the street plan with a front yard. It consists of a semi-basement, ground floor and two floors with a flat roof that can be used as a rooftop.
The main façade, facing south, is generated from a symmetrical composition with two axes of symmetry on the ground floor and first floor. On the ground floor, which is at a higher level than street level, the entrance porch with built-in dragons stands out, which is the base of the balcony on the first floor. This balcony extends across the width of the façade and has two openings with sculpted stone dust guards decorated with floral motifs. In the middle of the two openings is the sculpted coat of arms of Catalonia.
The window with handle on the ground floor and the semi-circular arched gallery on the upper floor are also noteworthy. Crowning the façade is the stone sill of the roof, with a decoration of plant motifs and terracotta vases on the sides.
The finish of the façade consists of floral sgraffitos on a yellow background.
The interior mixes different historicist styles specific to the time. On the ground floor there is a living room, a dining room and a neo-Arabic style interior courtyard covered with a glass skylight. On the second floor there is a large music room presided over by a French piano from 1849, a bathroom and a bedroom made of jacaranda wood. Upstairs there is a studio bedroom made with boat furniture.
The furniture, stucco walls and ceilings, made of Cuban mahogany wood, are the work of Josep Ribas, and the rest of the interior decoration by Josep Canudas.
The Matas family gave this house to their daughter, Eulàlia Matas, on the occasion of her wedding to a member of the Sanahuja family. For the Matas, it was their way of showing their economic power and it seems that they considered paving the floor with silver.