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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Industrial building occupying the entire block of the Badalona expansion area, measuring approximately 60 x 120 m. It consisted of 17 parallel warehouses, with a metal structure on iron columns. The most significant feature of this building was the saw-toothed roof, beams, columns and cast-iron braces designed by the Badalona industrialist Fèlix Gallent. In this design he also combined the Catalan vault to allow for a wider roof with zenithal lighting.
On the outside, the characteristic design feature of the building is the profile and vague Viennese resonance of the end walls of the aisles.
In 1992, the Can Casacuberta Central Urban Library was inaugurated following the refurbishments carried out by Antoni Poch and Jordi Moliner.
Thanks to the 2007 extension by the architect Antonio Sanmartín, the useful surface area was increased to 4,070 m2 with the inclusion of the Espai Betúlia, a cultural centre dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of literature. Of the original structure, the interior space and the façades on Carrer Enric Borràs i Colom, with moulded fronts, have been preserved.
During the 1920s, the former owner of the factory, Josep Giró, sold the building to the Barcelona businessman Salvador Casacuberta, who became Spain's leading company in ladies' and fancy woollen fabrics. After the Spanish Civil War, Casacuberta decided to sell the factory to the Bacàs company.
In 1979, the factory closed and was later restored as a cultural facility. Antoni Poch and Jordi Moliner were the architects in charge of remodelling the building. The project was awarded the FAD architecture prize in 1991 in the ‘Refurbishments and Rehabilitations’ section and a year later it was inaugurated as the Can Casacuberta Central Urban Library with the collection of the former Sant Anastasi Popular Library.
The 2007 refurbishment by Antonio Sanmartín was nominated for the 2008 ECOLA European Award.
Jordi Moliner i Salinas, Antoni Poch Vives
ASZ arquitectes, Elena Cánovas Méndez, Antonio Sanmartín Gabás