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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Casa Rovira is built for families with two brothers, on a plot located in a garden-city area, bordering a rocky massif 40 m above the sea, with views to Canet beach and Roca de la Catel.
The set forms two staggered volumes with breaks that facilitate adaptation to the abrupt topography of the terrain. Unity is achieved through patios and porches, their setback geometries and the staircase that connects them. The permeability of the façade is high when the visual vector is directed to the horizon and zero when connected to the street. Regarding the spatial scheme, the service area and the resting area are articulated in an L shape, with the rooms located in the concavity, while the main lobby forms its corner as an articulation.
Its spatial arrangement is part of an experimental line that would begin in the Ferrer Vidal house and end in the Luque House. The Rovira House is a clear variation of the Uriach house. Coderch adapts the same scheme of relations to the new framework that was presented in the Canet de Mar plot. However, Casa Rovira presents a greater definition in its limits, since it has to adjust to more restricted circumstances, the architect himself declared that those conditions were more exciting.
The structure is made up of a system of unidirectional reinforced concrete slabs supported on walls and pillars. On the outside, the façade is covered with lime plaster and the floors are made up of ceramic tiles arranged in a herringbone pattern, the openings are screened by white booklet blinds. All this provides it with that Mediterranean house style that supports the living tradition that Coderch insistently defends.