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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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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
The project for this new funeral parlour, located in the Sants district of Barcelona, is located inside an existing building - the former Climent brothers' factory.
The building was constructed by the architect Modest Feu i Estrada in 1925. With a marked Noucentista style, it is an example of industrial architecture built entirely of solid brick and with a unique roof of metal trusses and wooden joists. The volume is rectangular in shape and is 64 metres long and 15.50 metres wide.
It is a protected historical building and belongs to the catalogue of Cultural Assets of Local Interest of the Barcelona City Council.
The proposal stems from the premise of changing the use of the building in order to build a funeral parlour inside it.
The aim of the proposal is to respect the original architecture of the building as much as possible and to enhance its value by restoring the existing building to its original state, while at the same time proposing a new use that is as respectful as possible with the past.
The strategy of the proposal is to construct a building within a building.
The industrial building becomes a container for the new funeral parlour building, where the wooden roof with the trusses acts as a protective sky and becomes the true main character of the architectural proposal.
The new building is placed longitudinally along the length of the building, with a corridor in the manner of a boulevard parallel to the south façade of the building, through which natural light enters. This layout allows the entire length and size of the building to be perceived.
The avenue gives access to the four wake rooms which are located in the central part of the nave. At the back, on the north façade of Carrer de Puiggarí, is the technical corridor that gives access to the tumulus of the rooms and communicates with the technical rooms located at the back of the nave.
At the end of the avenue there is the ceremonial hall, which takes advantage of the space between trusses to create a double-height space that receives light from above.
At the entrance to the building, located on Carrer Comtes de Bell-lloc, we can find the rounded communications core which gives access to the first floor, where the offices and administration are located.
All the new volumes have been treated with a uniform light colour which is used to define all the elements, walls, floor and ceiling and which gives an image of unity to the whole intervention. This contrasts with the warmth of the wood of the roof.
The construction of the new elements is made entirely of wood – both the structure and the main finishes – so that the intervention can be dismantled in the future and at the same time be as sustainable as possible.
The walls of the wake rooms are traced in a sinuous and organic way to become a sculpture that seems almost temporary with organic forms that welcome the users.
In contrast, the volume of the offices and the dome or skylight of the ceremony room are two geometric volumes representing purer forms linked to spirituality.
These decisions ensure that the new building contrasts with the original nave without detracting from the prominence it deserves.
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Refurbishment of the Former Germans Climent Factory and Adaptation as a Funeral Parlour
MIRAG Arquitectura, Pau Millet López, Xavier Ramoneda Planas
The project for this new funeral parlour, located in the Sants district of Barcelona, is located inside an existing building - the former Climent brothers' factory. The building was constructed by the architect Modest Feu i Estrada in 1925. With a marked Noucentista style, it is an example of industrial architecture built entirely of solid brick and with a unique roof of metal trusses and wooden joists. The volume is rectangular in shape and is 64 metres long and 15.50 metres wide. It is a protected historical building and belongs to the catalogue of Cultural Assets of Local Interest of the Barcelona City Council. The proposal stems from the premise of changing the use of the building in order to build a funeral parlour inside it. The aim of the proposal is to respect the original architecture of the building as much as possible and to enhance its value by restoring the existing building to its original state, while at the same time proposing a new use that is as respectful as possible with the past. The strategy of the proposal is to construct a building within a building. The industrial building becomes a container for the new funeral parlour building, where the wooden roof with the trusses acts as a protective sky and becomes the true main character of the architectural proposal. The new building is placed longitudinally along the length of the building, with a corridor in the manner of a boulevard parallel to the south façade of the building, through which natural light enters. This layout allows the entire length and size of the building to be perceived. The avenue gives access to the four wake rooms which are located in the central part of the nave. At the back, on the north façade of Carrer de Puiggarí, is the technical corridor that gives access to the tumulus of the rooms and communicates with the technical rooms located at the back of the nave. At the end of the avenue there is the ceremonial hall, which takes advantage of the space between trusses to create a double-height space that receives light from above. At the entrance to the building, located on Carrer Comtes de Bell-lloc, we can find the rounded communications core which gives access to the first floor, where the offices and administration are located. All the new volumes have been treated with a uniform light colour which is used to define all the elements, walls, floor and ceiling and which gives an image of unity to the whole intervention. This contrasts with the warmth of the wood of the roof. The construction of the new elements is made entirely of wood – both the structure and the main finishes – so that the intervention can be dismantled in the future and at the same time be as sustainable as possible. The walls of the wake rooms are traced in a sinuous and organic way to become a sculpture that seems almost temporary with organic forms that welcome the users. In contrast, the volume of the offices and the dome or skylight of the ceremony room are two geometric volumes representing purer forms linked to spirituality. These decisions ensure that the new building contrasts with the original nave without detracting from the prominence it deserves.