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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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 project proposes the surface development of Passeig Garcia Fària between Carrer Bilbao and Carrer Josep Pla.
Prior to 1992, with the construction of the Ronda Litoral, the Passeig Garcia Fària was shaped with a dual carriageway section with a central partition. On the seaward side, the construction of a car park attached to the Ronda's retaining wall left its roof undeveloped.
The new road layout has moved the traffic on the sea side of Garcia Fària to the other side of the ring road and has extended Bac de Roda and Selva de Mar streets in the form of a bridge over the Ronda Litoral. The road incorporation to the central trunk of the Ronda located at the height of Josep Pla street has been moved to the junction of Selva de Mar and Garcia Fària, causing the demolition of part of the existing car park. The new Diagonal-Mar super-island gives Garcia Fària a new level, which has made it necessary to modify the longitudinal profile of this street between Selva de Mar and Josep Pla.
All of this means that the area to be developed has been defined as the area between the current partition and the limit of the Ronda Litoral, plus the roadway on the mountain side of the section between Selva de Mar and Josep Pla.
The resulting piece to be developed is a strip about 40 m wide and approximately 1.3 km long, divided into three blocks by the road that crosses the Ronda Litoral. This strip is divided at the same time into two sub-strips: the car park coverage facing the Ronda and the remaining space between the current partition and the car park wall. The project is based on this consideration and consolidates the division by creating a paved walkway over the car park and a landscaped strip.
The admissible overloads of the existing car park (1,000 Kg/m2) and the future maintenance of the car park have led to the decision to abandon the possibility of landscaping and building on its roof. For this reason, a two-colour asphalt pavement has been chosen as the main feature of this strip, which is mainly used for bicycle traffic, fitness circuits, jogging and other similar activities. We think that emphasising the large dimension of this space, stripping it of superimposed elements, reinforces one of its primary qualities.
In the rest of the promenade we propose a linear garden organised through trapezoidal green pieces that allow permeability between the pedestrian crossings and the esplanade over the car park. The two areas are sewn together thanks to the interruptions of the flowerbeds and the raised platforms, overlapping with the roof of the car park, which act as viewpoints overlooking the sea. Some of the planted areas are raised above the natural level, offering lawns that also overlook the beach.
The organisation of the promenade has had to take into account the crossing of vehicles towards the access ramps to the car parks, which are a long way from the new pavement line. These crossings are made in the form of a gap between the vegetation. To alleviate the fracture caused by the ramps, small slabs are built in the form of a bridge that crosses them at their central point. The arrival of the new Bac de Roda and Selva de Mar bridges makes it necessary to raise the promenade at these points to connect it with the new gradients.
The cross-section has been designed with slopes of between 1.5% and 2% towards the Garcia Fària roadway. The need to allow drainage and the new width of the promenade make it necessary to raise the slopes above the current car park and, consequently, to raise the existing railing, which is done by means of a prefabricated concrete piece that fits into the original wall.
The planting has been planned with species appropriate to the unique situation of the promenade: on the seafront, with no built elements to protect it from their influence. Organised in strips, it also helps to understand the whole promenade as a unit.
Basically, there are two types of parterre. Those that slope towards Passeig Garcia Fària are planted in strips ordered by height of vegetation: the first two are grasses of different heights and finally they are placed in the tamarisk trees. The double-slope flowerbeds are covered with grass on the slope facing the sea and are planted with a mass of white oleander on the opposite slope. In some strategic areas, small groves of mulberry trees are planted on ivy ground cover to provide shade.
The palms are planted as single trees in groups of two or three. Palmettos, mimosas and lavender plantations complete the landscaping of the promenade. The boundary with the roadway is consolidated with a linear parterre containing the existing palm trees and the planting of oleanders, also existing in the current partition, is thickened.
The lighting is resolved with a grid of PRIM-type posts that organise the whole area on both sides of the Ronda Litoral. Special care has been taken to level the crowning height of the poles, regardless of the variable topography of the points where they are anchored.
Ravetllat-Ribas Arquitectes, Pere Joan Ravetllat i Mira, Carme Ribas i Seix
Jordi Castelló, Mariana Plana, Carme Ribas i Seix, Jin Taira
Ravetllat-Ribas Arquitectes, Pere Joan Ravetllat i Mira, Carme Ribas i Seix
Jordi Castelló, Mariana Plana, Carme Ribas i Seix, Jin Taira
Ravetllat-Ribas Arquitectes, Pere Joan Ravetllat i Mira, Carme Ribas i Seix
Jordi Castelló, Mariana Plana, Carme Ribas i Seix, Jin Taira