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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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

2019-2024 Aureli Mora i Omar Ornaque

Documental 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 Ornaque

Collaborators:

2019-2024 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Maria Jesús Quintero Lucía M. Villodres Montse Viu

External Collaborators:

2019-2024 Helena Cepeda Inès Martinel

With the support of:

Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura

Collaborating Entities:

ArquinFAD

 

Fundació 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.

Design & Development:

edittio Nubilum
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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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Responsable del tractament: Col·legi d Arquitectes de Catalunya 'COAC'
Finalitat del tractament: Tramitar la sol·licitud de còpies digitals dels documents dels quals l’Arxiu Històric del COAC gestiona els drets d'explotació dels autors, a més d'aquells que es trobin en domini públic.
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Memory

August Font i Carreras va néixer el 2 de juny de 1845 al Portal de l'Àngel, 15 de Barcelona. Quan cursava el batxillerat va ser company d'Elies Rogent, més gran que ell, i que segurament el va influenciar personalment alhora de dirigir-lo en els seus estudis d'arquitectura. Va començar els estudis a l'antiga "Llotja" (Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi) de Barcelona. Posteriorment realitzà la carrera d'arquitectura a Madrid i obtingué el títol d'arquitecte el 21 de desembre de 1869. Va ser professor de diverses assignatures a l'Escola d'Arquitectura de Barcelona i president el 1906 de l'antiga Associació d'Arquitectes de Catalunya. Va tenir encàrrecs molt importants com l'acabament de la façana i cimbori de la Catedral de Barcelona, la plaça de braus Les Arenes, el Palau de Belles Arts per a l'Exposició Universal de 1888 o el seminari pontifici de Tarragona, entre d'altres, tot dintre d'un estil eclèctic. Va morir el 6 de març de l'any 1924.

Source: Arxiu Històric del COAC

Works (15)

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Constellation

Chronology (19)

  1. Via Raventós House

    August Font Carreras

    Building between partitions, with a ground floor and a main floor. It is covered by a gable roof covered with Arabic tiles. The façade has a symmetrical composition. The most remarkable element is the curved balcony, with wrought iron grating and protections. Five doors open to it with simulated pointed arches. The ensemble responds to the formal characteristics of historicism, inspired in this case by the Gothic style. Cal Figarot dates from 1888 and was designed by the architect August Font i Carreras. In the 1980s, its interior was badly damaged. The castellers of Vilafranca rehearse there.
  2. Agricultural Centre of Vilafranca del Penedès

    August Font Carreras

    Agricultural Centre of Vilafranca del Penedès

    The building is located in the 19th century Eixample. The main façade overlooks the Rambla de Nostra Senyora. It is a construction between partitions and it is at the corner of a covered passage through which it is accessed. It consists of a ground floor and a main floor, with an Arabic tile roof on two sides facing the side façades. It presents an eclectic language with reminiscences of wooden agricultural constructions and ceramic tiles. The Agricultural Centre was the society of rural owners. Their agricultural talks started in 1900. There were also artistic demonstrations and dances. During the Civil War it was the Revolutionary Committee’s headquarters. Later, a cinema was built inside.
  3. Gran Hotel de Inglaterra

    August Font Carreras

  4. Cafè-Restaurant Maison Dorée

    August Font Carreras

  5. Concurs Anual d'Edificis i Establiments Urbans

    Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Interiorisme - Decoració
    Cafè-Restaurant Maison Dorée

  6. La Caixa de Barcelona Branch Office

    August Font Carreras

    La Caixa de Barcelona Branch Office

    In 1906, August Font i Carreras was commissioned to design the Gracia branch of the Caixa d’Estalvis i Mont de Pietat de Barcelona. August Font himself had already designed the Caixa de Barcelona building in Plaça Sant Jaume and a branch office in Carrer de Sant Pau. The building is located on the block bounded by Carrer Jesús, Carrer Sant Pere Màrtir, Carrer de Gràcia and Gran de Gràcia, where the façade opens onto the street. The building is inscribed in a regular polygonal plot and is developed on three levels of elevation: ground floor and two floors, topped by a rooftop. Today, only the façade remains of the original architectural project, which consists of a three-storey rectangular façade and a five-storey tower attached to the far left-hand side of the building. Built entirely of stone, it is notable for the presence of elements from the Catalan medieval building tradition, such as the mullioned windows on the first floor and the rooftop on the top floor. Even so, these elements are not faithful to the traditional forms, but were reinterpreted by the architect, giving the complex a Gothic appearance. The tower, which has a hip roof, has a door on the ground floor leading to the staircase. It is a door with a mixtilinear lintel and sculpted mullions, with two female figures accompanied by vegetal elements on the imposts. Crowned by the coat of arms of Barcelona, the ground floor is separated from the next floor by a moulded impost, where there is a niche in the form of a window with an image of the Virgin Mary. The first floor opens onto the street through a window with a mixtilinear lintel and, finally, the clock face above it. The tower is closed with a large cornice on corbels on which the top floor of the building is built – a series of windows between columns form a continuous gallery that surrounds the tower on all four sides. On the ground floor there is the entrance to the current offices of La Caixa, with a central doorway flanked by two pairs of windows with large arches on columns resting on a high plinth. This ground floor is separated from the first floor by a sculpted cornice on which we can read: ‘Caja de Ahorros y Montepío de Barcelona. Sucursal de Gracia' (Barcelona Savings Bank and Montepío de Barcelona. Gracia Branch Office). On the first floor there are three crown windows inspired by the Middle Ages, but reinterpreted both in the shape of the lintel and the plant decoration. Finally, on the second and last floor, there is a gallery that recovers the medieval and Renaissance style with mixtilinear arches on columns. Above this level we can find the eaves and the roof railing. The latter, with moulded elements in the form of battlements, is decorated with ceramic and iron elements.
  7. Concurs Anual d'Edificis i Establiments Urbans

    Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Arquitectura - Millor Edifici Construït
    Botiga Butsems i Fradera

  8. Basilica of Santa Maria de Vilafranca

    August Font Carreras, Santiago Güell i Grau

    Church with a single nave covered by a vault of five cross sections and five lateral chapels per band between wide buttresses. The apse is polygonal and has seven locks with internal buttresses and an octagonal bell tower at the back. The crypt is covered with a cross vault, the ribs of which are supported by two vault keys. Access to the temple is through two doors. The old main entrance, located on Carrer de Santa Maria, has a round pointed arch and preserves remains of a painting representing the Crucifixion. The second door corresponds to the current façade, in neo-Gothic style, which opens onto Plaça de Jaume I. It has a large pointed arched door and, on the tympanum, there is a sculptural group representing the Coronation of the Virgin. Above the rose window, the crowning is double-sided with blind arches and small side towers. Crucifix of the high altar (18th century): Polychrome ivory crucifix showing Christ's body arched to the left, perhaps due to the shape of the ivory piece, and rounded, with legs together and feet crossed. The head, with long hair, is tilted to the left and back and rests well below the raised arms. The cross is modern and made of silver. Organ (1942): Architectural composition of wood, arranged in three floors by semicircular arches and recesses and mouldings between them. Triangular pediment and small pinnacles on the crowning. Corbels and stipes at the bottom, in the form of a balcony with a façade of molded polygons. This structure is refilled with metal tubes, often with plant-themed openwork wood ornaments added to them. Crypt Burial (1916): White marble sculptural group made by Josep Llimona i Bruguera, consisting of the dead Christ, lying on a bed and covered by Saint Joseph of Arimathea with a sheet, with Nicodemus behind. At the foot is Mary Magdalene, at the head the Virgin Mary with Saint John and Mary Salome in the foreground. Stylised realistic figurative work, characteristic of modernist aesthetics. It was patronised by Bishop Torras i Bages, as indicated by an inscription. Vault keys of the crypt (16th century): Two keystones with round outline. One presents the theme of the Resurrection, with the triumphant Christ on the tomb, with a cross in one hand, a robe that partially covers his body, fastened with a buckle and a cruciform border on his head. Two soldiers, dressed in armour, one on each side, are in a position of falling back. The other presents the theme of the Piety, where the Virgin, in a robe and excessively long legs, carries Christ on her lap and has one leg over the other while her arm is down to her back. Altar of Saint Felix in the crypt (20th century): White marble altar consisting of the figure of Saint Felix dressed as a priest, with hands folded on his chest, arranged on a pedestal with reliefs in the form of a palm of martyrdom, an ax and a crown of roses and ornamented with garlands of roses and bay leaves At the feet there are the figures of two angels dressed in tunics leaning on the pedestal in an attitude of weeping and their wings spread out around them. Enamel of the Holy Supper of the high altar (20th century): Enamel on polychrome metal, with the religious scene representing the Last Supper. All the figures completely occupy the space and are arranged symmetrically around a central one, the Christ. All the figures wear robes and are standing except for the two closest to the central one, who are kneeling in front of the table, on which the bread and wine are laid out. Schematised realistic figuration. Paintings of the portal of Santa Maria (14th century): Remains of polychrome paintings arranged in the centre of the external archivolt and the upper side wall of the portal of Santa Maria. The Crucifixion is represented with the figure of the Virgin and the sun on the right and Saint John and the moon on the left and characters with a border under arcades. Stylised and sinuous figures typical of the Gothic style. They were found in 1973 and are in serious danger of irreversible degradation. Grilles of the side chapels: The interior bars have doors formed by bars that are joined at the top, creating single, double or triple arches, ogee or recessed, sometimes overlapping and some polylobed. The bars end up forming pointed arches between the bars and a cornice of Gothic foliage of stylised acanthus leaves, rosettes and outline clovers above which rises a crown of spikes that alternate the following themes: agave with spikes and flowers, spiked pomegranate and flowers and spiked spiral. Altarpiece of Sant Ramon de Penyafort (20th century): Altarpiece made by Rafael Solanic i Balius, consisting of a central exempt sculpture of Sant Ramon de Penyafort surrounded by bronze panels embossed with scenes from the Saint's life and framed by uprights and lintels of wood and marble without moulding. The statue is made of polychrome wood and represents the Saint dressed in friar with his hands on his chest carrying a book. A key hangs from his belt and at his feet there is a tiara. In the reliefs there is a main assessment of volume and space through the introduction of architectural elements. Statue of Santa Llúcia: Polychrome wood sculpture. Juvenile female figure right, dressed in tunic and mantle, with head and body slightly arched to opposite sides and with one leg supporting the weight and the other slightly advanced and supported. She wears a border and braids and in one hand the palm of martyrdom and in the other a plate with eyes. Exterior grills (20th century): During the renovations of the main façade carried out between 1903 and 1905, the Renaissance box was demolished and replaced by a neo-Gothic portal that took advantage of the original medieval base. The exterior wrought iron bars can be found on both sides of the main portal that opens onto Plaça de Jaume I, and also flanking the Santa Anna portal, on Carrer de Santa Maria. The wrought iron work of the bars of the main portal combines smooth and spiral circular cylindrical bars topped with screw-on floral motifs. The two dragons flanking the entrance stand out. The bars of Santa Anna's portal are smaller and also alternate smooth and spiral bars topped by leaves and forged acanthus. Paintings of El Santíssim Chapel (20th century). The frescoes of the Capella del Santíssim were made by the Vilafranca painter Lluís Maria Güell between 1941 and 1944. These paintings decorate the side walls, on both sides of the high altar where there is the sculptural group of the Calvary by Enric Monjo, and the dome of the chapel. The frescoes on the walls depict six episodes from the lives of saints and are separated by adjacent pillars. The paintings on the dome are framed in borders and represent the theme of heavenly Glory. Stained glass windows in the apse (XX century): The set of seven stained glass windows in the apse were paid for by Ramon Pujol Güell and were installed from 1959. The central stained-glass window in the apse represents different episodes from the life of the Virgin and was designed by Pau Boada and Josep Brugal. In the six remaining stained-glass windows, three on either side of the apse, on the north side, the creation of the world, the expulsion from paradise and the genealogy of Christ are represented. On the south side the following are represented: the Annunciation, the Apocalypse and the Coronation of the Virgin. These last three stained-glass windows were designed by Pau Macià. The Basilica of Santa Maria is part of the most important historical and monumental complex in Vilafranca. Documented in 1188 in the reign of Alfonso I. It was rebuilt in the 13th century, having undergone several remodellings since then. The current building dates from the 15th century (consecrated on 1489) and the crypt from the 16th century (1561). Important works took place between the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the refurbishment of the vault, which collapsed in 1735, that of the bell tower (1775, 1860, 1919) and the construction of the Capella del Santíssim, in 1809. At the beginning of the 20th century, the main Renaissance façade was replaced by the Neo-Gothic one. The refurbishment was carried out between 1903 and 1905 according to August Font's project and under the direction of Santiago Güell. In 1934 it caught fire and, immediately, the reconstruction was undertaken under the direction of Jeroni Martorell. In 1935 the Generalitat declared it a Historical and Artistic Monument.

Bibliography (23)

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