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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 project starts from two initial premises marked by the property from day one:
- A house with lots of natural light
- A house that has the ability over time to increase ceiling metres without giving up the common spaces.
These two premises are what determine the main idea of the project: bring all rooms, and storage, to the partitions; leaving a central nucleus that articulates the space around it.
This decision allows us to free up the street and patio façades, north and south respectively, and be able to work on them as a light and ventilation filter. On the other hand, it frees up the project section, giving it flexibility in time. Depending on the needs of the users, the roof area is increased through the construction of lofts. Anchors have been left integrated in the concrete structure so that in the future simple wooden structures can be assembled without the need for auxiliary means.
On the ground floor, connected to the street and the patio, there is a garage space understood as a multifunctional space where you can have family lunches, parties or activities related to the patio.
On the first floor, and going from south to north, there is the living-dining room and the kitchen. The room is connected to the living room through a double sliding door, this gives several alternatives for privacy, from a room completely open or semi-open to the living room to a closed room with access through the dressing room.
On the roof, and thanks to the section, two terraces appear, one more private and protected by a vegetable pergola, and the other more exposed, understood as a solarium.
The partitions are parallel but skewed with respect to the perpendicular of the façade.
Taking advantage of the fact that they are blind elements, they are considered as service and storage spaces, recovering the perpendicular to the façade on its inner face. This gives the possibility of fitting a programme where it takes more thickness.
The core that integrates the bathroom and stairs is slightly offset towards the north-west corner of the building's floor plan, thus defining different proportions in the spaces around it and facilitating the relationship between them. It also integrates a courtyard of light that, in addition to illuminating the central spaces of the house, provides natural light to the shower and toilet. This patio is designed as a preview for a possible elevator.
The façades are understood as a triple skin. They are designed as filters to improve the feeling of comfort: light and temperature. The outermost skin is 4cm cellular polycarbonate, the inside is double glass with a camera and adjustable slats between the two. On the south façade, the space between the polycarbonate sheet and the glass can be opened and closed depending on the ventilation needs: in winter we close the chamber and orient the slats inwards to make the most of the radiation and in the summer we open the camera and orient the slats outwards thus avoiding the direct incidence of solar radiation; if it is suitable we can also open 100% of the inner leaf leaving the whole house ventilated from the south to the north façade. The house is designed to achieve the greatest possible comfort through passive methods. Only 3 mechanical air conditioning elements appear: a chimney with forced ventilation; a fan, duct and thermostat system that recirculates the hot air accumulated in the upper part of the double space taking it to the lower levels; and a heat pump that is used as additional support.
We have worked with the neutral materials possible: concrete, glass, polycarbonate, maple wood... with the aim of generating an uncontaminated space and for the user to give it colour and personality through furniture, vegetation... somehow trying to project a support for everyday life.