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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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
About us
Project by: 
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Directors:
2019-2024 Aureli Mora i Omar OrnaqueDocumental Commission:
2019-2024 Ramon Faura Carolina B. Garcia Eduard Callís Francesc Rafat Pau Albert Antoni López Daufí Joan Falgueras Mercè Bosch Jaume Farreny Anton Pàmies Juan Manuel Zaguirre Josep Ferrando Fernando Marzá Moisés Puente Aureli Mora Omar OrnaqueCollaborators:
2019-2024 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Maria Jesús Quintero Lucía M. Villodres Montse ViuExternal Collaborators:
2019-2024 Helena Cepeda Inès MartinelWith the support of:
Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de CulturaCollaborating Entities:
ArquinFADFundació Mies van der Rohe
Fundación DOCOMOMO Ibérico
Basílica de la Sagrada Família
Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
Fomento
AMB
EINA Centre Universitari de Disseny i Art de Barcelona
IEFC
Fundació Domènench Montaner.
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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.
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Memory
Passatge del Crèdit is located in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona and was designed by the architect Magí Rius i Mulet between 1875 and 1879.
The passageway opens onto the block defined by Carrer Ferran, Carrer Avinyó, Carrer Baixada de Sant Miquel and Plaça Sant Miquel, crossing it lengthwise and having two entrances facing each other, one from Carrer de la Baixada de Sant Miquel and the other from Carrer Ferran.
Access to the passageway is through a large semicircular arch in both streets. It is a monumental entrance, flanked by two large stone pilasters set on a plinth, with shafts decorated with a series of small plaques sculpted with geometric plant motifs and crowned by a large entablature. Above this, there is a stone voussoir arch, flanked on either side by two pilasters and with two medallions with the bust of two allegorical figures (Mercury and America). On the side facing Carrer Ferran, the arch thread is decorated with a metal element, which is anchored to the arch's soffit like a grille, and embedded in it there are the metal letters ‘PASAJE DEL CRÉDITO’. What stands out about this entrance - unlike the one on Baixada de Sant Miquel - is the existence of a level built in the area of the arch, which takes advantage of the light from the arch to create the window that we see today.
In relation to this last aspect, it is worth highlighting the type of covering of these sections that link the two streets. Both are covered with a wooden forging with coffers, but with a very different height, structure and finish. Everything seems to indicate that the one on the Baixada de Sant Miquel side is part of the original architectural project, with a coffered ceiling of quadrangular pieces with a fleuron, also made of wood, in the centre, combining quadrangular and rounded shapes with foliage. This ceiling, which still preserves traces of the original polychromy, is in a rather poor state of conservation and is currently protected by a net to prevent it from falling off. As for the ceiling on the Carrer Ferran side, it seems to be part of a later alteration, as it is a simpler coffered ceiling without any decoration and is lower than the one on the other side of the passageway to create an intermediate level that does not exist in the Baixada de Sant Miquel. However, its state of conservation is quite poor, in some points some of the wooden panels have disappeared, leaving the flat brick vaulting of the ceiling slab visible, and there are other areas with little stability and a risk of the whole thing falling apart.
As mentioned above, the Passatge del Crèdit connects and gives access to a group of buildings that are distributed longitudinally on either side of this passage. These buildings are six storeys high, with a ground floor, a mezzanine and four additional landings. The ground floor is used for commercial space and is characterised by its great height, with high ceilings and large openings framed by iron pilasters that allow for large windows that ensure the entry of light. The decoration with small masks that are still preserved in some points of the cornice that crowns the ground floor stands out. The rest of the floors are dwellings, although part of the complex currently houses part of the Hotel Rialto.
The various floors have openings in the passageway framed by white stone pilasters which contrast with the reddish colour of the façade cladding. The treatment and composition of the windows on the two façades where the entrances are located stand out, with a set of decreasing openings towards the upper levels. This variation consists in the fact that on the first floor the window has three large openings with balconies, framed by Ionic pilasters, while on the second floor it only has two. The third floor retains the two openings, but is reduced in height and width, which is actually smaller on the top floor.
Another highlight of the complex is the porter's lodge, located in the open area of the passageway and attached to one of its façades. It is built of iron, with a polygonal floor plan, a pointed roof and large windows that allow the entire complex to be observed from the inside.
This complex is one of the most representative works of current iron architecture, a material that is visible in the pilasters on the ground floor and combined with the stone of the rest of the building. It is also used in the ornamental elements (capitals, railings, etc.), which Rius combines with stylistic resources of classicist tendencies.
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Routes (4)
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Rutes 27
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Rutes 50
