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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 residential building at Carrer Or 44 is located in the Gràcia district, in a block bounded by Carrer Torrijos, Carrer Torrent d'en Vidalet, Carrer Sant Lluís and Carrer Or, with the main entrance facing Plaça Virreina. It is a residential building that Joan Baptista Rubinat i Planas commissioned Francesc Berenguer Mestres to build at the beginning of the 20th century, although, as he did not yet have the title of architect, the project was signed by Joan Rubió i Bellver. Rectangular in plan with a back courtyard, it has a stairwell in the centre and, aligned with it, two small light courtyards.
The structure in elevation has a ground floor and five storeys, with a flat, walkable roof enclosed by a wrought iron railing. The façade has a flat, symmetrical composition, with its openings arranged on four vertical and five horizontal axes in a regular rhythm.
On the ground floor there are four identical doorways, all of which are formed by gently moulded stone pillars with four angular brick arches. The doorway leading to the entrance hall of the building, located in the westernmost part, has the door set back from the façade. On the rest of the floors there are four balconies with sinuous slabs, the lower part of which shows the iron joists that support the vaults, decorated in trencadís. These balconies have a meticulous wrought-iron closure, with wavy, interlocking bars. They also mark the four vertical axes, and are crowned on the roof by sharp brick pinnacles and a wrought-iron support to hold the pulley.
From the first floor upwards, except for the brick framing around the openings and the crown of the building, the façade is covered with mortar and decorated with two-colour sgraffito work with floral and geometric motifs.