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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
Sardà va fer el primer projecte per al Mercat Central l’any 1934, quan era arquitecte municipal de Reus, però l’edifici existent respon a un projecte del 1943 i construït el 1949. El mercat segueix una tipologia d’un gran espai central amb dues crugies laterals més baixes, és a dir, una configuració basilical, suportada per peus drets i cintres metàlliques. La disposició simètrica del mercat queda reflectida a l’exterior amb un joc purista de volums que intenten trencar les grans dimensions de l’edifici. Els cossos de les cantonades són més baixos que la façana principal, però més alts que les façanes laterals. La façana central queda endarrerida, flota sobre l’ombra de l’entrada, de banda a banda, i adopta un ritme de quatre llargues obertures verticals. Sardà adopta la tècnica de l’esglaonament de volums per enriquir la imatge de l’edifici i atorgar-li un caràcter monumental.
La idea de construir un edificio para albergar las paradas del Mercadal proviene de finales del XIX. En 1932 el ayuntamiento republicano compró el solar donde se encontraba situado el Teatre Circ, un edificio modernista de 1901 que fue derribado en 1935, después de pasar a propiedad municipal. En 1934 Antoni Sardà desarrolló un proyecto para este emplazamiento, actuando como arquitecto municipal. Estaba previsto que las obras empezaran en 1936, pero se tuvieron que interrumpir por la Guerra Civil. En 1943 se actualizó el proyecto y se acabó de construir en 1949.
El edificio es simétrico y está concebido como uno de los grandes mercados del siglo XIX, como una gran plaza pública cubierta por una estructura de pilares y cerchas metálicas de gran dimensión. La diferencia se encuentra en el cerramiento de ladrillo, que introduce el lenguaje abstracto y dinámico de la Bauhaus y el Gatcpac. Destacan los volúmenes simples coronados por una cornisa, las ventanas horizontales y verticales de gran dimensión y los grandes voladizos de hormigón armado de las marquesinas exteriores. Las fachadas combinan el estuco de color ocre con pequeños elementos de obra vista que les dan continuidad a los huecos.