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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 palace, located at the entrance of Barcelona, next to Diagonal Avenue, consists of a central body of four floors, with a chapel at the back, and two side wings, three stories high, which open on the main façade in a curved shape. The exterior reflects the historicist aesthetic, with a taste between neoclassicism and noucentisme, prevailing at the time of its construction: porches of Tuscan columns, semicircular arch openings with medallions interspersed (on the side façades), and crowning vases. The interior, on the other hand, is a popular mix of different styles, both in the decoration of walls and ceilings and in the furniture, ranging from Louis XIV to the most contemporary, to English and Dutch furniture. One of the rooms is decorated with paintings by Francesc Pla, "el Vigatà", from the palace of the Marquis of Montsolís.
The Palau de Pedralbes was built between 1920 and 1924 as a royal residence, on land donated by the Güell family to Les Corts de Sarrià. The old Güell tower was completely modified by the architects Eusebi Bona, author of the project, and Francesc de P. Nebot, who directed the works from mid 1923. The palace was not completely finished until 1929.
Salvador Alarma, the set designer and decorator, Santiago Marco, Rafael Parcerisas, Francesc Labarta and the architect Sagnier himself worked on its decoration.
The garden was designed by Nicolau M. Rubió i Tudurí between 1925 and 1927 from pre-existing vegetation.
When the Republic was proclaimed, the palace became property of the Barcelona City Council, which installed the Museum of Decorative Arts (1932). From 1939 it was the residence of General Franco in Barcelona, and in 1960 it was opened to the public. The Stables Pavilion has housed the Carriage Museum since 1970.
autoria desconeguda
Eusebi Bona i Puig, Francesc de Paula Nebot i Torrens
Set Finca Güell