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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 Anís del Mono factory occupies a block of streets formed by Avinguda Eduard Maristany, Carrer Mar Mediterrània, Plaça Rosa dels Vents and Passeig Marítim, between the railway line and the coast in the city of Badalona. It is an isolated industrial complex made up of different rectangular bodies or warehouses attached to each other forming several courtyards with mostly gable roofs. The enclosure is delimited by a fence wall with the main entrance on Avinguda Eduard Maristany, where the entrance gate is flanked by two moulded pilasters with a brick fascia and crown, which support the Anís del Mono sign. Next to the entrance gate there is another smaller entrance, a segmental-arched gateway with a dust cap. This hedge wall has the same configuration as the plinth along the entire length of the façade, with a band of recessed rectangles, and also has a canopy and a brick entablature.
The building is the result of an addition of naves over time. On the main façade there is a set of different rectangular L-shaped volumes with gable roofs, except for the broken central body or mansard roof with glazed ceramic tiles in earthy and green tones. The wing facing the Plaça Rosa dels Vents is made up of two adjoining bays of different lengths, with a ground floor and a first floor. The façades of both naves have the same treatment, a constant plinth and a large opening centred and set back with respect to the lead of the façade that occupies the two floors. This opening ends in a pointed arch and is segmented by a series of axes: four plain axes on the ground floor crossed at the top by another horizontal axis that forms five small square openings and another four vertical axes or pilasters on the ground floor that are finished off at the bottom and top with staggered elements. The ground floor is divided from the first floor by two cornices that run the entire length of the façade, delimiting the corner angle and inside the openings, forming a kind of entablature with the frieze with four vertical axes that correlate with the others above and below. Above the arch is a curved moulding. The upper part has a gable forming a step in the centre. Between the two naves there is a polychrome drawing showing the logo of Anís del Mono (a monkey).
The main façade of the central body has a single nave and a large glazed doorway with a medallion in the centre, at the top, with the logo of the Anís del Mono brand. The perimeter of this opening is delimited by pilasters, entablature and cornice that runs along the profile of the arch. This doorway is a large pointed segmental arch that is divided into three parts, with a wider central part containing a rounded arch moulding that acts as an entrance. This smaller arch has two moulded vertical axes on the inside that go from the impost line to the soffit. The gable of this nave has broken edges in different segments. The interior of the nave contains the distillery, a large room with a "Savalle" rectifier from Paris with a capacity of 10,500 litres in the centre, and on each side there are four stills of 1,000 litres each with their respective boilers on a metal rostrum. On the side facing the other wing, there is a trapezoidal attached body, consisting of a floor and ground floor and a flat roof with an entrance with a segmental arch frame and an opening above it, the solution of which is reminiscent of a machicolation finished in a Georgian arch.
In the other wing there are two adjoining naves that maintain a similar configuration to the first, but they are only one level high and the openings are rectangular with flat arches. The upper part is finished off with two horizontal cornices along the façade that form a one-step gable over the openings.
Inside the enclosure, at the back facing the Passeig Marítim, there is a brick chimney with a circular section and a truncated cone shape, finished with a simple crown made up of several links.
In 1870, the brothers Josep and Vicenç Bosch registered the firm José Bosch y Hermano. Due to the growth of production and commercial activity, the company abandoned the old pot still in Carrer Soledat and built a new factory in 1880. In 1878, the Anís del Mono brand was formally registered in Spain. Initially, a wide variety of drinks were produced, including different kinds of anisette. It was not until 1907-1911 that Anís del Mono became the only manufactured product.
The factory was built in two phases. The first one was from 1880 to 1922 and the second one from 1970 onwards. In 1884, the land leading down to the beach was closed off, while in the period between 1885 and 1914, warehouses and a hayloft were built and the interior of the rooms were renovated to accommodate the offices. In the early 1970s, part of the existing buildings were demolished to build new halls.
The master builder who designed the original plans was Jaume Botey, stepfather of the architect Joan Amigó. The latter continued the works in 1904, as well as the different refurbishment and maintenance works of the factory. In 1922, the engineer Tomàs Flaquer took charge of the reorganisation of some of the rooms and part of the current façade. The last intervention, which was carried out in the early 1970s, was the work of the industrial engineer Ramon Vallrimbles.
It is considered the most important aniseed factory in Badalona. The distillation room, foyer, archive and management office, in the Catalan Art Nouveau style, stand out from the rest of the complex because of their heritage value. Over the years, other buildings have been added to the original site to modernise the facilities and improve production. The distillery, which is still in operation, maintains the artisanal and industrial processes with which it originated in the 19th century. In 1975, the Osborne group bought the entire company. Currently, the factory, apart from the production of anisette, is also dedicated to the production of Aromas de Montserrat and houses the Anís del Mono Museum.