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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Complex consisting of two buildings together, located on the corner of Passeig Sant Joan and València Street. The building that makes the chamfer has a triangular plan and consists of a ground floor, seven landings and a flat roof, while the one on Passeig Sant Joan has a rectangular plan and consists of a ground floor, six landings and a flat roof.
The construction of the corner has the main façade in the chamfer and the corners are rounded. On the ground floor there are large rectangular openings, except for the portal of access to the building which has a semicircular arch; all of them are decorated with a smooth double moulding and the facing is plastered with limestone. The upper floors are marked by a series of vertical axes where the typology of openings, entrances and exits and changes in the colour of the facing are combined, which create a very dynamic game. Quadrangular windows open on the two central axes of the main façade; on both sides, the façade moves forward like tribunes and a large window opens on each level. These four axes begin on the second floor, where a curved balcony joins the two tribunes. On the first floor there are four windows, and the facing is the same as on the ground floor. At the corners, the rounded shape is inserted slightly into the wall creating the feeling of being two embedded towers; here large triple windows that follow the rounded shape of the wall are opened. On the narrow side façade’s there are small balconies, with the iron railing, and a tribune on the first floor. For the opening of the top floor there are small rectangular ventilators. The façade is crowned with a cornice. A moulding goes around the building separating the top floor from the lower ones; in the stands you can also see this moulding separating each floor. The façade is plastered and painted salmon except for the tribunes, the corners and the 7th floor, which are painted grey.
The building on Passeig Sant Joan has similar characteristics with three large openings on the ground floor, the central one is the access portal, and the lateral are the commercial premises, framed by mouldings. On the upper floors there are four vertical shafts. Quadrangular windows open in the two central ones and on the sides the wall is advanced in the form of tribunes, except on the top floor where the wall does not advance and the upper part of the tribune acts as a balcony. Above there are rectangular vents and the façade is crowned by a cornice. The facing on the ground floor is faced with stone while on the upper floors it is plastered and painted brown, except for the end wall of the two side shafts which is painted cream and the plastering draws horizontal lines.
The construction company of this building is "La razón social Harinas Serra, SA" from Mollet del Vallès. In the late 20s and early 30s of the 20th century, this company moved into construction, winning numerous public tenders.