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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 Montbau plan is conceived as a prestigious operation with possibilities for experimentation. In 31 hectares, a wide variety of building types are proposed and, as a differential fact compared to other interventions of the time, the emphasis is also placed on the social aspect. The objective of architectural diversity also seeks to respond to sociological diversity and make the neighbourhood suitable and attractive for different social classes. As a result, in addition to the towers and linear blocks, 2 sets of single-family homes are built. The popularly known as "the white houses" which adopts a unique implementation with respect to the whole and these 14 houses between partitions that follow the same orientation of the linear blocks (south-east / north-west). Following the topography of the site, the house can have an adjoining workshop on the lower floor. It has access both from the inside of the house and an independent one from the street below. The houses are symmetrical, two by two with small variations in the distributions. The kitchens or the rooms alternately face the terrace, which is the roof of the workshops. The house is developed on 2 levels: on the access floor we find the kitchen and the living room and on the upper floor 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Having these workshops also strengthens the neighbourhood's facilities and complements the commercial area.
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
Francesc Bassó i Birulés, Joaquim Gili i Moros
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
Set Polígon Montbau | Polígon Montbau: Unitat Sud-Oest