COAC

Eng

Intro

About

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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.

Aureli Mora i Omar Ornaque
Directors arquitecturacatalana.cat

credits

About us

Project by:

Created by:

Directors:

2019-2023 Aureli Mora i Omar Ornaque

Documental Commission:

2019-2023 Ramon Faura Carolina B. Garcia Francesc Rafat Antoni López Daufí Joan Falgueras Anton Pàmies Mercè Bosch Josep Ferrando Fernando Marzá Aureli Mora Omar Ornaque

External Collaborators:

2019-2023 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Helena Cepeda Inès Martinel Maria Jesús Quintero

With the support of:

Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura

Collaborating Entities:

ArquinFAD

 

Fundació Mies van der Rohe

 

Fundación DOCOMOMO Ibérico

 

Arxiu Mas

 

Basílica de la Sagrada Família

 

Museu del Disseny de Barcelona

 

EINA Centre Universitari de Disseny i Art de Barcelona

Design & Development:

edittio Nubilum
Suggestions

Suggestion box

Request the image

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.

Image requested:

* If the memory has known authorship or rights, cite them in the field above 'Comments' .

Remove * If the photographs has known authorship or rights, cite them in the field above 'Comments'.
You can attach up to 5 files of up to 10 MB each.

Memory

Arquitecte. Titulat el 1878 a l’Escola d’Arquitectura de Barcelona. La UNESCO va declarar Patrimoni de la Humanitat les següents de les seves obres: el Parc Güell, el Palau Güell, la casa Milà, la Façana del Naixement i la Cripta de la Sagrada Família, la Casa Vicens i la Casa Batlló a Barcelona, juntament amb la Cripta de la Colònia Güell, a Santa Coloma de Cervelló

Source: Arxiu Històric del COAC

Works (35)

On the Map

Constellation

Cronology (40)

  1. Water Tower in La Ciutadella Park

    Josep Fontserè i Mestre, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Water Tower in La Ciutadella Park

    The building was created to meet the water demand of a park like the one in Ciutadella, and it is located next to it, on a standard block in the Eixample. The volume of the building is almost cubic, with four bays, with all the same façades – of solid brick, the only material used – and completely devoid of ornamentation; it is a pure service building, transcended based on the rigorous order of its façade, defined by the external buttresses supporting the deposit. It is aligned against Wellington Street, without touching any chamfer. The tank is located in the open air, elevated to pressurise the water by gravity. The interior space is a hypostyle room, the product of converting the support walls of the vaults that support the tank into pillars by drilling them through a regular system of arches. It is one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the city. The structure of the tank was calculated by Antoni Gaudí, still a student, in exchange for a direct pass in the subject Resistance of materials.

  2. Waterfall and Artificial Lake

    Josep Fontserè i Mestre, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Waterfall and Artificial Lake

  3. Nau Gaudí

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  4. Cooperativa l'Obrera Mataronense

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  5. Capella del Santíssim Sagrament de l'Església Parroquial de Sant Feliu de Alella

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  6. Portes de la Finca Güell

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  7. Vicens House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Vicens House

    This is Gaudí's first commission, having just finished his studies. The house consists of two floors with a low ceiling which house the main floor and the bedrooms, and a much higher attic under a multi-slope roof. The treatment of the built factory combines exposed stone and brick masonry, which is drawn and organised according to horizontal rows, and vertical elements of ceramic tile, which always draw a draftboard pattern and incorporate the corner tribunes and their elements of support. The house was conceived as a large optical device linked to the garden and the skewed views from the street.

  8. Guards Pavilion, Entrance and Stables of the Güell Estate

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Guards Pavilion, Entrance and Stables of the Güell Estate

    These are the only remaining constructions from the works done by Gaudí on the baron de Güell's estate, which reached as far as the Pedralbes palace. The entrance is flanked by two royal wall constructions, and the large space of the stables is covered with a series of barrel vaults through which the light enters, supported on parabolic brick arches. On the outside, the abstract ornamentation is combined with iron elements that capture the symbolism of the poem by Jacint Verdaguer: the dragon cannot prevent Hercules from tearing a branch from the tree of golden apples, which crowns the large brick pilaster on which the door pivots.

  9. Reforma de la Torre de Can Feliu

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  10. Fountain of Hercules and Parabolic Pergola on the Güell Estate

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  11. Reforma dels Jardins de la Finca Güell

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  12. Waterfall and Gardens of Vicens House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    This is Gaudí's first commission, having just finished his studies. The house consists of two floors with a low ceiling, which house the main floor and the bedrooms, and a much higher attic, under a multi-slope roof. The treatment of the built factory combines exposed stone and brick masonry, which is drawn and organizsd according to horizontal rows, and vertical elements of ceramic tile, which always draw a checkerboard pattern and incorporate the corner tribunes and their elements of support. The house was conceived as a large optical device linked to the garden and the various skewed views from the street.

  13. Pavelló de la Companyia Transatlàntica

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  14. Palau Güell

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Palau Güell

    It is the Baron de Güell’s main urban residence, built on the site left by two old apartment buildings, at a peak for the city’s culture due to the imminence of the first Universal Exposition. The whole organism revolves around a large central space located on the main floor, with a height above the roof, where all the cultural and social life takes place. Gaudí creates an unusual vertical order, where the four floors above the street are expressed on the façade in six different orders, also broken horizontally. At the entrance, two inverted catenaries channel the differentiated access to the garages, the stables and the large hall. The palace is conceived as a unitary space experienced through the staircase, which ascends around the great hall until it reaches the bedrooms. Gaudí’s respect for the medieval urban palace typology is obvious, although it is full of a very sacred sense of space.

  15. Les Teresianes School

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Les Teresianes School

    The building follows a courtyard with three longitudinal corridors, so that the central one becomes a complex interior lighting device, which assimilates the whole set to a cloister. Working with a small budget, Gaudí chose to use a very narrow parabolic arch, repeated numerous times, which allowed him to solve the central distribution corridors and at the same time the openings of the façade. The central courtyards allow dimmed light to reach the ground floor by means of successive steps that let the light pass through indirect routes. It is worth noting the simplicity with which the joinery has been solved: inside, the glazed leaf partitions take on abstract forms without any symbolism. The typical window of the façade consists of a rectangular blind, embedded in the mass of the factory, which covers the opening itself, which takes the form of the reference parabolic arch.

  16. Concurs Anual d'Edificis i Establiments Urbans

    Award-Winner / Winner
    Calvet House

  17. Güell Winery

    Francesc d'Assís Berenguer i Mestres, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Güell Winery

    Es tracta d’una petita construcció destinada a emmagatzemar els vins criats a la finca que Eusebi Güell tenia al Garraf. La construcció és formada per tres ordres d’arcs parabòlics, que decreixen a mesura que pugen, de manera que, en conjunt, formen una coberta a dos aiguavessos molt alzinada. El celler s’emplaça a la vora de la carretera, al costat d’un gran desnivell. Tota la fàbrica és de maçoneria de pedra tosca, amb reforços monolítics a les cantonades, i descarregada audaçment en alguns punts, com a l’entrada de la capella del nivell superior. Si bé des de sempre se n’havia atribuït l’autoria a Francesc Berenguer, és palesa la intervenció de Gaudí en alguns detalls a escala més petita, com ara les xemeneies, la porta d’accés o les gelosies. El nivell intermedi, que acull l’habitatge de l’administrador, enllaça amb la cota del carrer i amb l’accés, on el vessant de la coberta s’aixeca suaument i forma un perfil semblant a una pagoda.

  18. Capelletes del Jardí de les Cases del Tenor Francesc Viñas

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  19. Gateway and Boundary Wall of Miralles Estate

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Gateway and Boundary Wall of Miralles Estate

    Personal commission from Hermenegild Miralles to his friend and client Antoni Gaudí. The industrialist bought the old farm in Sarrià from Count Eusebi Güell and quickly decided to fence it, defining its perimeter and locating its access. The entrance, formed by a wavy arch, takes advantage of its sinuosity to descend and integrate into the low walls, which absorb this undulation as a crown, originally covered with Arabic tiles. These vertical facings, built with stone blocks, also undulate in a perpendicular direction. This game extends over the original 36 metres of the wall, of which only the small section of the access is preserved.

  20. Xalet del Catllaràs

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Xalet del Catllaràs

    El xalet del Catllaràs és situat a la serra del mateix nom per damunt del santuari de Falgars. Aquest edifici fou construït per allotjar els tècnics de les mines de carbó que subministraven combustible a la fàbrica de ciment del Clot del Moro. Sembla que Eusebi Güell encarregà el projecte del xalet a Antoni Gaudí. Aquest es va construir entre 1902 i 1903, moment en què també s'estaven fent les obres del Parc Güell. Es tracta d'un edifici de planta rectangular, de planta baixa, pis i golfes, cobert per una volta en forma de catenària per l'interior i apuntada a l'exterior. L'aresta de la volta fa de carener de la coberta. L'espai interior es divideix en sis habitatges, dos a cada planta, amb una escala central construïda a l'exterior de l'edifici. Aquesta era de planta semicircular i disposició concèntrica. Era feta d'obra i formava un volum que destacava en la façana. Actualment l'escala és al mateix lloc però és una estructura de ferro lleugera. Els vessants dels arcs formen part de les façanes en les quals s'obren finestres en forma de mansarda, cobertes amb viseres inclinades i lleugerament apuntades. Les parets laterals que tanquen l'edifici presenten poques obertures. Hi ha dues xemeneies, una que surt de la coberta -recollia el fum de les estufes dels diferents habitatges i l'altra adossada a un lateral que servia per evacuar els fums d'una habitació de la planta baixa. L'interior de l'edifici era molt senzill però aprofitava l'espai al màxim i buscava la comoditat. A la planta baixa hi havia, a part dels dos habitatges, les cuines i menjadors. L'espai s'anava reduint des de la primera a la tercera planta. Els apartaments tenien divisions interiors, excepte els de la tercera planta que és un únic espai. El personal es distribuïa segons les categories laborals a la planta baixa, amb pitjor aïllament tèrmic, estava ocupada pel personal de manteniment i servei, els directius a la planta del mig i el personal subaltern a les golfes. Tot i que no hi ha cap document que ho demostri, el xalet del Catllaràs s'atribueix a Antoni Gaudí. L'arquitecte Viladevall al número 35 de la revista Cortijos y rascacielos de Madrid, de 5 de juny de 1946, explica que Domènec Sugranyes Gras, col·laborador de Gaudí, li va assegurar que aquest n'era l'autor. Aquest xalet es va construir com a habitatge dels tècnics i altres treballadors de les mines de carbó del Catllaràs, les quals van tenir una època de molta activitat, però finalment el xalet fou cedit a l'Ajuntament de la Pobla de Lillet. Se sap que al 1907 es va modificar la pendent de les viseres de les finestres i el basament de l'edifici, inicialment cobert per palets de riu, fou recobert amb ciment. El xalet va patir una forta degradació i al 1971 s'hi van fer reformes per adaptar-lo com a casa de colònies.

  21. Calvet House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Calvet House

    It is a rather daring interpretation of the Eixample's typical rental house, in this case, with two dwellings per floor and a façade band with five openings. The façade that faces the street, based on three-lobed balconies, a varied order of rows of ashlars and a coronation with two baroque tympans, contrasts with the solution of the rear façade, where it incorporates bands of white sgraffitos in both galleries and profile balustrades simplified. Despite everything, the façade on the street is full of small, imperceptible symbols, such as the mushrooms, which allude to the owner's vocation as a mycologist, or the cypress tree under the tribune, a symbol of hospitality. Gaudí also resorts to the exception and to baroque references in the lobby and in the interior of the houses, all of which are different, and he does not hesitate to use drawn stucco, artificial stone or other concealed materials to obtain the aesthetic effects he desires.

  22. Taller de Forja dels Germans Badia Miarnau

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  23. Sala Mercè

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

  24. Primer Misteri de Glòria

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Primer Misteri de Glòria

    Misteri del camí cap a la santa cova, destaca sobre la resta perquè és l'únic que se li ha donat un tractament d'escenografia teatral. Sembla que es va buidar la roca en aquesta zona per escolpir-hi el senotafi de Crist ressucitat, als seus peus hi ha la mare agenollada. El grup el formen unes altres quatre figues: un àngel assegut, dues figures femenines dretes davant la tomba, ja un pèl allunyades, que semblen estar esculpides en un mateix bloc; i Jesús, fora de la cova, penjat a la roca a un nivell superior. Aquesta figura destaca també per ésser la única feta de bronze. Pintat a la roca hi veiem l'escut de la senyera. L'accés al conjunt és tancat per una barana de ferro forjat. Adossat a la roca, al cantó dret del conjunt, hi ha una placa on diu: Ofrena de Nostra Senyora de Montserrat a la Pietat de Catalunya.

  25. Batlló House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Batlló House

    Gaudí is required in this case to completely transform the image of an already existing house, while freely incorporating new structural concepts, naturalistic references, all kinds of symbolism and abstract ornamentation. The addition of a new floor allows the façade to be crowned asymmetrically, taking into account the presence of the neighbouring Amatller House, which already existed at the time. The main floor incorporates naturalism in the supporting structure itself, while the attics allow the introduction of the parabolic vaults, already rehearsed previously. The collaboration of Josep Maria Jujol brings greater freedom in working with the materials and in the intensity of the effects. Both façades, front and back, undulate like two curtains. We can consider it as Gaudí's first mature work, where he achieves a surprising synthesis between the structural materiality of the building and the dreamlike nature of the multiple suggestions that we can find everywhere.

  26. Jardins de Ca l'Artigas

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Jardins de Ca l'Artigas

    Jardí construït al volt d'una font, el riu Llobregat i una fàbrica, i promogut per l'amo d'aquesta, l'industrial Joan Artigas Alart . El jardí té com a base fonamental els dos penya-segats a banda a banda del riu que van quedar units per dos ponts: un en forma d'arc coix i porta a un pavelló i l'altre amb coberta de pèrgola feta amb formigó recobert amb pedra. El disseny recorda en alguns aspectes al Park Güell, tot i que en menor escala, que en aquells moments s'estava construint al barri de Gràcia de Barcelona. De la mateixa manera, el Jardí d'Artigas presenta línies orgàniques perfectament integrades a l'entorn natural; fins i tot va crear una gruta artificial. El jardí està pensat per passejar, de manera que té un recorregut establert on destaquen determinats llocs: la Glorieta, la Cova (lloc original de la Font de la Magnèsia) on s'utilitzen arcs catenaris, la Cascada (font d'aigua feta amb pedres a l'estil del trencadís gaudinià) i el berenador, al costat del pont dels Arcs. Es va començar a construir per la gruta que hi ha al costat de la font de la Magnèsia, que dóna nom al jardí i té forma allargada, seguint el congost de vora el riu. Al costat, el pont d'arc coix té uns graons que porten a la glorieta que té una coberta cònica recoberta de pedruscall. Al llarg del recorregut hi ha representats una sèrie d'animals: un lleó i un bou en dues fonts i un àguila al començament de l'escala; aquests animals, juntament amb un àngel que actualment no existeix, possiblement podrien fer referència als quatre evangelistes. Durant tot el recorregut hi ha nombroses baranes i parterres, fonts, ponts, cascades, places, miradors, bancs, escultures (com les figures d'un home i una dona portant un cistell al cap),... Principalment, l'obra es feta de pedra i morter, poc o molt armat. Per fer el jardí es va aprofitar la vegetació natural de la zona (avets, pi roig, faig, boixedes,...) i es van incorporar altres arbres com la pollancre. Els jardins Artigas, coneguts també amb el nom de Parc de la Magnèsia, per la font que hi brolla, es troben al costat del que va ser la fàbrica tèxtil propietat de Joan Artigas Alart, qui també va promoure la construcció del jardí. Tot i que no existeix cap document que ho corrobori, alguns estudiosos com Joan Bassegoda Nonell, atribueixen a Gaudí el disseny del jardí. Sembla que l'any 1905 Gaudí va visitar la fàbrica de ciment portland "Asland" que s'estava construint al Clot del Moro (Castellar de n'Hug) convidat per Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi (1846-1918), un dels promotors de l'empresa,. L'arquitecte es va allotjar durant dos dies a la casa de Joan Artigas, el qual li va demanar idees per enjardinar la zona de la font. Es creu que Gaudí va fer uns croquis i que, més endavant, va enviar un paleta del Park Güell per col·laborar amb els paletes locals en la construcció del jardí. Tant el croquis com els planells del projecte van desaparèixer amb l'incendi de la fàbrica dels Artigas, l'any 1939. Als anys 50, la família Artigas es va traslladar a Barcelona i el jardí va quedar abandonat. Una persona que de molt jove havia treballat com a peó amb aquesta colla de paletes va comunicar aquestes dades a l'historiador local Angel Francàs, que van ser publicades per "El Correo Catalán" en dos artícles els dies 14 d'agost i el 22 de desembre de 1971. Anys més tard la Càtedra Gaudí, l'Escola Superior d'Arquitectura i la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, van començar investigacions sobre la paternitat de l'obra. Joan Bassegoda, director de la Càtedra en aquell moment, va atribuir l'autoria del projecte inicial dels jardins a Gaudí en un artícle a La Vanguardia de l'any 1989. L'any 1992 es va procedir a restaurar l'obra i actualment els jardins estan oberts al públic. Són propietat municipal i s'hi pot accedir mitjançant una estació de Ferrocarril Turístic de l'Alt Llobregat.

  27. Casa Larrard

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Casa Larrard

  28. Bellesguard

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Bellesguard

    The house was commissioned to Gaudí by Jaume Figueres’ widow, on a land full of historical resonances, as it contains the remains of an old residence of Martin the Humane, named “Bellesguard” by Bernat Metge. The ground floor, slightly raised above the ground, contains the stately bedrooms, below the main floor. The first attic houses the service rooms, and the second, under the roof, opens to the four winds through continuous openings. Gaudí experimented with window jambs and tympanums and other ornaments with molds filled with small stones. The roofs of the main floor and the upper attics are supported by very thin arches, lightened with latticework. Gaudí seeks a structural function based on small elements, alluding to the femininity of his client, also mentioned in the heading that presides over the entrance: "Hail Mary full of grace was conceived free of sin".

  29. Sagrada Familia Temporary Schools

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    In 1909, Gaudí designed and built the temporary schools of the Sagrada Família with the aim of educating the children of the neighbourhood who grew up around the temple and the children of the construction workers. Located within the site of the temple, the work was originally built on the corner of Sardenya and Mallorca Streets. The building is characterised by the ingenious use of regular surfaces – in this case conoids – which allow the construction of a resistant building with a shortage of materials. The schools were admired by Le Corbusier, who made a sketch of them during his visit in 1928. The schools were damaged at the beginning of the war and were consequently rebuilt after two years, in the middle of the civil war. In 2002, they were moved to the side of the cloister on Sardenya Street, to allow the construction of the naves. The original materials of the roof structure, which had not been able to be replicated during the 1938 intervention, were restored. The temporary school building of the Sagrada Familia is a Cultural Asset of Local Interest.

  30. Milà House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Milà House

    This is Gaudí’s latest civil work, in which he places full emphasis on the experimentation with the structure and opts for risky and well-differentiated solutions from traditional procedures. The load-bearing straight feet are made of limestone from Garraf, combined with metallic elements, and are dimensioned and configured according to the casuistry of their specific position. The slabs are made of metal beams, which follow an irregular order according to the configuration of the floor. The façades on the street merge with the perimeter pillars in a monolithic and self-supporting system. Gaudí proposes to detach the forms from their material content and to look for a synthesis between the abstraction and the evocation of the elements of nature. This led him to turn the building into a large monument dedicated to the Virgin, which was to crown the house as if it were just a pedestal. The help of a naval engineer or the shapes suggested on the deck reveal a Gaudí forerunner of modern architecture, interested in freeing himself from the rows of masonry, orders or the weight of building materials. The Pedrera is a completely unfinished work that solves every spatial and constructive challenge through unpublished and sometimes incomprehensible solutions.

  31. Crypt of Güell Colony

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Crypt of Güell Colony

    Gaudí va treballar en el projecte durant deu anys, i les obres no s’iniciaren fins el 1908. Es tracta d’un autèntic laboratori en plena naturalesa on Gaudí alterna els seus descobriments amb les obres de la Pedrera, la Sagrada Família i el parc Güell. La cripta consisteix en una estructura de pilars inclinats de pedra basàltica, de fust monolític, preparats per suportar l’església que es volia construir al damunt. El sostre és format per un complex sistema de fines catenàries de maó pitxolí que segueixen una geometria molt irregular, guiada per nombroses al·lusions al món animal i vegetal. A les primeres filades del sistema murari, més fosques, segueixen unes filades vermelloses, i l’església havia de continuar amb tons verdosos i finalment blaus, el mateix ordre cromàtic del bosc que l’envolta. Gaudí va treballar amb maquetes de catenàries per traçar les voltes que havien de culminar el conjunt, si bé la cripta és el resultat del treball in situ amb tota mena de materials trobats i reciclats, com les reixes de les finestres o els maons de rebuig. Gaudí acaba imprimint a totes les superfícies nombroses simbologies religioses i catalanistes, com ara les quatre virtuts cardinals representades al mosaic situat sobre la porta d’entrada.

  32. Park Güell

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Park Güell

    The park is the result of the purchase by Barcelona City Council of the urbanisation of a luxury neighborhood designed by Gaudí and promoted by Eusebi Güell that never came to be. What can currently be visited are the landscaping of sixty undeveloped plots at the foot of Mount Pelada, with magnificent views of Barcelona, and the common parts of the project: the paths, access, market, central square. Gaudí urbanises the mountain with streets that follow the minimum sloping lines and four bridges built with material from the clearing of the plots. The retaining porch walls inside which can be circulated, covered with local stone, are exceptional. Both the bridges and the porch are crowned by unique columns crowned in turn by planters where agaves are planted. The heart of the urbanisation had to be an elevated square that instead of a perimeter railing has a corrugated bench designed and built with prefabricated concrete by his collaborator Josep Maria Jujol, finished with some breakwaters that are worth discovering in detail. Below the square is a hypostyle room that was to house the market, with twisted columns to work with as little effort as possible. The columns are empty and below them is a water tank that should cover the entire park. Some are removed in order to make room for larger stops and are replaced by medallions, also designed by Jujol. The ensemble is accessed by an imperial staircase that has, on the axis of symmetry, a spectacular dragon made of trencadís that has become one of Barcelona’s landmarks. The fence that guards the park at the entrance, finished with two asymmetrical pavilions, is equally remarkable. One of the pavilions currently houses the Gaudí Museum.

  33. Sagrada Família Expiatory Temple

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Sagrada Família Expiatory Temple

    THE TEMPLE’S BEGINNINGS AND GAUDÍ’S PROJECT After the resignation of Villar, Joan Martorell, who advised the Josefina Association and was one of the most prestigious architects of the time, proposed Antoni Gaudí as a continuation of the works begun. At the time, Gaudí was a young architect, with 31 years of age, and he accepted the position of managing director on November 3, 1883. Gaudí continued the works designed by Villar and, as he gained prestige as an architect - and at the same time the confidence of the Josephine association -, he gradually transformed the initial project to the point of reaching a large, monumental temple around 1890. The new conception of the building is no longer limited to a typical Latin cross church. It increases the scale and projects a main body of five naves with a transept of three, and a monumental façade at each end, dedicated to the Nativity - east transept -, the Passion - west transept - and the Glory, located at the foot of the main nave. To join the three façades, there is a perimeter cloister, which surrounds the nave and the surrounding island, with a building on each corner dedicated to sacristies, a baptistery and a chapel of the Sacrament and Penance. The new building has a great symbolic value as a manifestation of the Christian faith - which is inseparable from art and architecture - and gains in verticality. The three façades contain four towers each, about 100 metres high, dedicated to the twelve apostles. In the centre of the transept is a large dome, consisting of six towers even taller than the previous ones, dedicated to the Virgin Mary - on the apse -, the four Evangelists - one on each corner of the transept - and the large central tower of Jesus Christ, about 170 feet. Gaudí devoted the rest of his life to the design and construction of the Temple, and exclusively from 1914, when he ceased his professional activity outside the Sagrada Família. During Gaudí’s lifetime, the crypt, the façade of the apse and much of the Nativity Façade were built.

  34. Continuation of Work on the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family / Sagrada Família

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Domènec Sugrañes Gras

    Continuation of Work on the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family / Sagrada Família

    After Gaudí’s death, the architect Domènec Sugrañes oversaw the direction of the works. He was Gaudí’s main collaborator at the time and he directed the works on the Façade of the Nativity - of which Gaudí had only seen a bell tower completely finished - which were completed before the outbreak of the Civil War. Mentally affected by the destruction of the Sagrada Familia workshop at the beginning of the Civil War, Sugrañes passed away in 1938.

  35. Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Francesc de Paula Quintana Vidal

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    After the end of the war, Francesc de Paula Quintana, who had been Gaudí’s assistant architect, and later Sugrañes, took over the position of chief architect. Once the war was over, the new Temple board focused on the restoration of the affected areas (crypt, lower part of the apse and the Nativity Facade and the schools) and the recovery of Gaudí's workshop and project, collecting photographs and plans - published before the fire in Gaudí's biographies and books on the Sagrada Família - and recovering the plaster models damaged during the war, generated by very precise geometries. The construction of the Façade of the Passion began in 1954, which Gaudí described in a very detailed elevation plan, and which he had explained to his disciples. In the transept of the Passion, Quintana he erected the double-turn column dedicated to the diocese of Barcelona, following the geometric procedure devised by Gaudí, which was the first column inside the temple and served as a model for the rest.

  36. Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Lluís Bonet i Garí, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet, Isidre Puig Boada

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    The architects Isidre Puig Boada and Lluis Bonet i Garí, who had regularly visited Gaudí in the last stage of his life and had worked on the development of the work under the direction of Francesc de Paula Quintana, became the successors after the death of the latter. At this stage, the architectural part of the Façade of the Passion is completed, except for the upper porch, and a large part of the documentation and models that will allow the continuation of the works is collected and studied.

  37. Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Francesc de Paula Cardoner i Blanch, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Francesc de Paula Cardoner i Blanch, who had worked under the orders of Puig Boada and Bonet Garí on the construction of the Façade of the Passion, became the principal architect between 1983 and 1985. Under his direction, the construction of the windows in the sides of the naves began. In addition to construction, Cardoner devoted many years of his life to the study of the original models of the project -including previous versions of the project that Gaudí ruled out-, establishing an important classification of the pieces that have later served the generations to deepen the knowledge of the project.

  38. Premi Ciutat de Barcelona

    Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Architecture and Urbanism

    Premi Ciutat de Barcelona

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

  39. Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Jordi Bonet i Armengol, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple

    Jordi Bonet i Armengol was appointed chief architect in 1985. The work focuses on the detailed study and construction of the interior space of the temple (main nave, transept, apse and crossing), applying the defined procedures and geometries done in detail by Gaudí in the 1:10 scale plaster models. At this stage, the geometry and proportions that govern the original models are studied in detail, and 3D computer modeling is introduced for the development of the project and the production of stone pieces. In the construction field, the Catalan vault is introduced for the vaults of the central nave’s interior, following the generators of the regulated geometry, and the incorporation of Venetian glass in accordance with the symbolism. The interior of the basilica, which is dedicated to the Holy Father Benedict XVI on November 7, will be closed in 2010. In the same year, the Temple of the Sagrada Família’s nave done by Antoni Gaudí was awarded the Ciutat de Barcelona prize in the category of architecture and urbanism. Under his direction, Josep Maria Subirachs was in charge of the execution of the sculptural ensemble of the Façade of the Passion and the stained glass windows of the naves by the artist Joan Vila-Grau. Once the naves were finished, the work focused on the construction of the Sacristy, which, according to Gaudí, would become the model the towers of the central dome would follow.

  40. Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple following Gaudí's Project

    Jordi Faulí, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Continuation of Work on the Sagrada Familia Expiatory Temple following Gaudí's Project

    Jordi Faulí i Oller has been working as an assistant architect under the direction of Jordi Bonet and has been its managing director since 2012. The construction of the Sacristy is continued, defined by large parabolic surfaces according to the original plaster model, and the concepts defined by Gaudí in the project of the six towers that form the central dome, 138 metres high located on the apse and dedicated to the Virgin, are applied; as well as the four evangelists, 135 metres high, located at the four corners of the transept and the central tower of Jesus Christ, 172.5 metres high. The towers are crowned with the symbols that represent them: the crown and the star in the case of the Virgin Mary, the winged tetramorph in the evangelists, and a large four-armed cross in the tower of Jesus Christ. From a structural and constructive point of view, the stone system is developed to be able to build large towers with reduced thicknesses - and therefore reduced weight. This technique, which consists of inserting stretched stainless steel bars, allows to build towers about 60 meters high with a thickness of solid stone between 50 and 35 centimetres. The system has also facilitated construction with large stone panels, pre-assembled in an external workshop.

Archive (8)

  • Esbós detall vidreres de Ballesguard.

    Drawing

    Esbós detall vidreres de Ballesguard.

    Fons Josep Maria Jujol Gibert / Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Decoració de la Casa Milà

    Drawing

    Decoració de la Casa Milà

    Fons Josep Maria Jujol Gibert / Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • L'església segons el projecte original de Gaudí

    Drawing

    L'església segons el projecte original de Gaudí

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Esbós d'un cartell publicitari dels Cellers Güell.

    Drawing

    Esbós d'un cartell publicitari dels Cellers Güell.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Detall d'un cartell publicitari dels Cellers Güell.

    Drawing

    Detall d'un cartell publicitari dels Cellers Güell.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Alçat de l'altar per a la continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Drawing

    Alçat de l'altar per a la continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Esbós del baldaquí de l'altar per a les continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Drawing

    Esbós del baldaquí de l'altar per a les continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

  • Detall del baldaquí de l'altra per a la continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Drawing

    Detall del baldaquí de l'altra per a la continuació de les Obres del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

Audiovisual

  • La fortuna crítica del Modernisme i Gaudí

    4:32

    La fortuna crítica del Modernisme i Gaudí

Bibliography (100)