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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 premises are located on the ground floor of a building in the Gràcia district, listed with level C protection (Asset of Urban Interest). Since the 90s, it has worked as a bar with a mixed license. The interior geometry, as in most of the basements of buildings between partitions from the 1900, is in the shape of an elongated tube, with a small patio at the end.
To refurbish the old establishment, the following criteria have been taken into account:
Restitution of the façade: in its original state, the 4.50m high entrance hole was half covered, with bars from an old smoke extraction and a large opaque sign. The proposal eliminates these elements, returning to the original composition and dignifying the entire estate.
Accessibility: the internal unevenness in the access is eliminated, replacing them with a gentle slope, less than 4% and imperceptible, which goes from the entrance to the beginning of the bar.
Natural lighting: the restoration of the patrimonial façade, cutting the original false ceiling, doubles the entry of light from the access. At the end of the premises, the closures of the old office are demolished, and the distribution of the toilets is modified to make two large openings that generate a new entry of much-needed natural light.
Acoustic comfort: given the acoustic requirements of a public place, the false ceiling and part of the sides have been covered with cork panels - a sound-absorbing material - to avoid reverberation and reduce transmission to the neighbours. The plastic qualities of the cork finish are used as the main decorative motif of the premises.
Once these essential criteria have been completed, the project strategy consists of differentiating two sectors within a single space. First, the perimeter envelope is projected, made up of cork and brick cladding, and flooring and walls with a continuous cladding. Secondly, a series of work objects are built with envelopes covered in marble tile, scattered throughout the premises. With their geometries, they will arrange the uses:
Envelope: as we have previously commented, the false ceiling and the walls are covered with cork, an element that evokes fishing materials, taking advantage of its quartering to generate stripes that will set a rhythm throughout the entire premises and where the light bulbs will be placed, floating. In this false ceiling (already existing), a series of holes are made to decongest the premises and accentuate the rhythm towards the interior, seeking a sensation of natural lighting from above. Most of the walls have built-in auxiliary bars, covered with white/blue bevel tile and white tile; the different combinatory motifs end up generating abstract murals that are distributed throughout the premises and which, once again, evoke Andalusian arabesques. Finally, a continuous self-leveling pavement is related to the walls, giving abstraction to the whole.
Objects: two auxiliary tables, the totem, the bar-counter and the table. Each element, with its singularities, gives a different character to each area of the premises, generating different environments for clients who seek different ways of inhabiting it. High stools are designed that relate the cork of the false ceiling with the rest of the premises. Finally, a free-standing sink is chosen in the bathroom hall, which contrasts with the green of the patio. Overall, they are a series of items that are part of the fictitious wreck of a large marble fishing boat.
AMOO (Aureli Mora + Omar Ornaque), Aureli Mora Sanvisens, Omar Ornaque Mor
AMOO (Aureli Mora + Omar Ornaque), Aureli Mora Sanvisens, Omar Ornaque Mor
AMOO (Aureli Mora + Omar Ornaque), Aureli Mora Sanvisens, Omar Ornaque Mor