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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
El programa bàsic consistia a agrupar en un únic bloc residencial, un complex conjunt familiar, compost per vuit matrimonis, cadascun amb necessitats diverses, tant a la quantitat com en la qualitat d'espai. Un principi d'ordenació va ser la possibilitat de maclar tres tipus diversos: vivenda en una planta, vivenda en duplex i vivenda en àtic. La juxtaposició de tots ells -que admetia interferències i canvis de distribució- i la possibilitat de variar les obertures i terrassa de façana, dins d'uns certs límits conjuntius, van facilitar la creació de vuit habitatges completament diferents. El llenguatge utilitzat tant en el tractament dels espais comuns com de les façanes intenta una coherència radical d'elements. Hi ha una certíssima sèrie d'invariants que es repeteixen sistemàticament en cada accident diferent de la composició. Els únics materials utilitzats són el maó, el marbre blanc i la fusteria de fusta de guillotina, amb persianes de plàstic. Els elements formals de la façana han tingut una forta repercussió a l'arquitectura barcelonina dels darrers anys, i han estat freqüentment utilitzats dins de l'expressionisme de l'Escola de Barcelona.
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina