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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 building has a dual use as a home and studio, seeking climatic comfort through passive systems and integration into the old part of the town. The Mediterranean coastal climate conditions the interior configuration and the relationship with the exterior. The absence of partitions and the vertical connections turn the interior into a single space. The relationship with the street and the garden always takes place through intermediate spaces: patio, porch, terraces and balconies with solar and visual protection -traditional wooden roller blinds-. These spaces function both thermally and to provide privacy inside and between the different uses, while allowing solar gain in winter. Heavy construction systems are chosen for their thermal inertia, particularly suitable for a building with permanent use. The materials chosen are exposed concrete and uncoated brick, unpainted wooden frames, continuous mortar floors and external cork cladding. In order not to alter the raw appearance of the materials, surface treatments such as waxes, oils or colourless lasurs are used. The existing stone partition is also incorporated. The three-metre height of the rooms facilitates the stratification of hot air in summer, which is removed at night by ventilation through high louvres and extracted through a solar chimney on the roof, thus avoiding the need for mechanical air-conditioning systems. To support this passive operation, a low-temperature underfloor heating system powered by an aerothermal machine is used in winter, providing comfort without heating the air with a consumption of only 20 kWh/m2/year.
Valor-Llimós Arquitectura, Laura Llimós, Jaume Valor i Montero
Valor-Llimós Arquitectura, Laura Llimós, Jaume Valor i Montero