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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
About us
Project by: 
Created by: 
Directors:
2019-2025 Aureli Mora i Omar OrnaqueDocumental Commission:
2019-2025 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:
2019-2025 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Maria Jesús Quintero Lucía M. Villodres Montse ViuExternal Collaborators:
2019-2025 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
Conxita Balcells Blesa (Barcelona, 1962), arquitecta i paisatgista, titulada a l’Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona el 1990, de la qual n’és professora des de 1993, combinant la seva trajectòria professional amb la docència. També ha participat en conferències i exposicions d’àmbit nacional i internacional.
Ha dedicat la seva trajectòria professional a la redacció i la construcció de projectes, majoritàriament en l'àmbit públic. Els espais de formació (guarderies, escoles, edificis universitaris) i l'habitatge social han estat els projectes més elaborats al seu estudi. Les seves obres cerquen un apropament al sentit de l’arquitectura entesa com un bé patrimonial que enriqueix la nostra societat i dialoga amb el lloc.
Els seus projectes integren des de l'inici criteris de sostenibilitat ambiental, que inclouen la utilització de materials sostenibles i de mesures d’eficiència ecològica que garanteixen els mínims impactes i consums energètics, tant en el procés constructiu com durant el seu cicle de vida.
L’evolució de la seva trajectòria professional l’ha portat a treballar en els últims anys en múltiples projectes d'àmbits diferents. Aquests inclouen habitatges, edificacions escolars, universitàries, de l'àmbit sanitari, judicial i altres equipaments municipals, així com tot un seguit de projectes d'urbanització.
Els seus treballs han estat reconeguts per la professió i la societat civil. Així ho constaten els premis i mencions obtingudes en les diverses convocatòries dels Premis FAD, Biennals d'Arquitectura, Premis Europeus, etc. La seva obra ha estat extensament difosa en publicacions especialitzades i exposada en diferents ciutats (Barcelona, Girona, Londres, Boston, Sant Lluís ...)
Works (11)
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Chronology (20)
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Sant Serni d'Arfa Primary School
El Centre d’educació Infantil i Primària Sant Serni d’Arfa està pensada com una escola unitària, que es basa en l’ensenyament d’un únic mestre pels diferents ci¬cles escolars. Per aquest motiu ha estat projectat amb una nova tipologia d’escola. Un cop entesos els diferents requeriments funcionals del nen necessaris per la seva activitat, que la Direcció General de Centres Docents va elaborar molt meticulosament, quedava per resoldre la manera com el mestre podria dur a terme correctament la seva tasca. La proposta, encara que pugui semblar contradictòria, es va iniciar pensant en el mestre. L’escola es va projectar per a ser oberta, flexible i alhora controlable. La posició del mestre ha de permetre controlar tot el que suc¬ceeix a l’escola tant si els alumnes es troben repartits en les diverses aules com si passa momentàniament una estona amb un d’ells. El moviment del terra, així com els plecs de la coberta, marquen clarament l’àmbit de cada activitat. Des de l’accés, un es¬pai obert acompanya les dependències del professor. Ens endinsarem a l’escola pel que podríem anomenar un passadís sense tancament interior, per a trobar, per una banda, les plataformes d’informàtica, plàstica i biblioteca, i per altra, el pati. Al final del petit recorregut i encarant-s’hi, trobem l’aula. El solar és una era que forma un suau pendent orientat a nord i es troba al final del poble. Arribant des del nucli antic hi accedim per l’últim carreró. Els “darreres” de les últimes cases del poble ens insinuen la presència d’un possible nou carrer que podria donar continuïtat a la trama del poble. Es tracta d’un carrer amb unes edificacions que es tanquen sobre elles mateixes i la seva era i que busquen la bona orientació. La tipologia estructural escollida és la llosa massissa de for¬migó sobre suports també de formigó. L’acabat de la coberta és de coure. Els tancaments verticals són de fusta i formigó vist. -
Ronda de Dalt Dwellings
Conxita Balcells i Blesa, Manuel Brullet i Tenas
The building, which forms part of the edges of the ring roads plan, is located on a triangular plot with a steep slope at the meeting point of Passeig de la Vall d’Hebrón and Hospital Militar Avenue. The main conditions considered in the project are the orientation of the houses, the natural topography of the site and the layout model present in this section of the Ronda de Dalt, as well as the optimisation of the use of natural energy resources, both lighting and climate related ones. These arguments determine the position of the building on the plot, which is placed perpendicular to the Ronda de Dalt, taking up the entire front of the plot, thus obtaining a large façade surface oriented strictly to the south and freeing up the maximum space on the north side to separate itself from the gas station. The houses, with two and three rooms, are structured with a very clear distinction between the night area and the day area. Those with three bedrooms are placed at the ends of the block, with the day area formed by the dining room-living room and the gallery on the south façade and the bedrooms located on the north façade. Those with two bedrooms are located in the central part of the block and have both the day and night areas located on the south façade. The north, east and west façades are massive, in order to acoustically isolate the houses from street noise and provide them with a lot of thermal inertia, while the south façade is constituted as a gallery that acts as a selective solar collector, formed by an outer skin of wooden lamellas and an inner skin treated with specific openings. The core of vertical communications is built with exposed work and is moved slightly in plan, fragmenting the block, in order to widen the landings and also to provide them with more natural lighting. -
Premis d’Arquitectura de les Comarques de Girona
Award-Winner / Winner (ex aequo). Category: Ephemeral SpacesIntervenció a la Plaça dels Jurats. Temps de Flors 2000FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureRonda de Dalt DwellingsLa Llagosta Municipal Cemetery
Conxita Balcells i Blesa, Santiago Vives i Sanfeliu
The new Llagosta municipal cemetery has been designed as a public facility within the general framework of the future Besós river park. The project gives the cemetery a capacity of 401 niches and 110 columbariums, which would be reached once the two planned phases are built. Due to the proximity of the water table, the construction of buried tombs and pantheons has been ruled out. In the first phase - which occupies an area of 1,174 m2 - 201 niches and 56 columbariums, an ecumenical chapel, an autopsy room, ancillary services and car parks have been built, and the guidelines for its future growth have also been set. The site is organised from a series of small niche courtyards, which are arranged along two main axes. This series of patios could be said to draw a carpet. The chapel, the morgue, etc. are interspersed in the succession of courtyards and have their own collected atmosphere. This organisation of space provides the site with a human scale, far from any monumental rhetoric, and allows the fragmentation of the whole into small environments, defined by walls and vegetation, behind which the niches are collected in intimate and differentiated spaces. Among this drawing of walls and courtyards, only the geometric volume of the chapel roof stands out, which establishes a clear reference in a very blurred environment. The site has been completed with the planting of pines and virgin vines, in the niche patios; mimosas and laurels in the courtyards of the chapel; cypress trees on the access road; and, around the enclosure, a space has been delimited by planting long rows of poplars.Palau Primary School
Conxita Balcells i Blesa, Santiago Vives i Sanfeliu
Based on the educational and social function of the school building, we propose that the implementation of this new centre helps to structure the environment in which it is located, which is currently poorly configured from an urban point of view. The fact of opting for a single-storey building allows school life to be organised through a central axis - which gives access to all the dependencies - which acts at the same time as a transit and meeting area, with a clear vocation to be used, if appropriate, for pedagogical purposes. The solution we present proposes a modular system of classrooms and service spaces, which gives flexibility in their uses. The courtyards are determined by the same layout of the classrooms, achieving an articulated set with a marked personality. The independent access to the sports courts and the gymnasium (which can be used in a multipurpose way), located at one end of the school grounds, allows it to be used outside school hours and, perhaps, related to the future multi-sports complex which is planned to be built in Palau de Plegamans. This approach, together with the choice of materials for construction (concrete, exposed work, aluminum...), optimises its maintenance, both in terms of cleaning and the natural aging of the constructions. We also believe that the exterior should be treated with the Vallès’ vegetation.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureLa Llagosta Municipal CemeteryAulari Politècnica 3 de la UdG
Manuel Arguijo i Vila, Conxita Balcells i Blesa, Santiago Vives i Sanfeliu
En una franja d’ocupació no prevista originalment, les conveniències programàtiques dels espais politècnics s’expandeixen en una relació problemàtica amb un vial perimetral i amb els nivells dels edificis principals (P-1 i P-2). El projecte s’encaixa en aquests condicionants amb modèstia i pulcritud; s’ordena amb un eix ampli i ben dimensionat, d’accessos extrems que el vinculen amb aquells nivells; excava uns patis que qualifiquen la llum i l’ambient serè de l’aulari inferior, i delinea un cos llarg de despatxos que emergeix rítmic i seriat per damunt de la coberta, finalment una cinquena façana del conjunt.51 Social Housing Units for Young People Ali Bei
Conxita Balcells Associats, Conxita Balcells i Blesa
The proposal aims to follow the model of other interventions in the Eixample, where equipment buildings are configured as an exception to the regularity of the Cerdà plot. Responding to the uniqueness, evidenced by the size, the fundamental objectives have been the topographic variations of the block and the density of the built environment, and respecting the Cerdà plot. The proposal consists of two pieces, one arranged following the plot in the direction of Ali Bei Street and the other turned 90 degrees, with the main façade facing the football field.Prosperitat Social Services Centre
Conxita Balcells Associats, Conxita Balcells i Blesa
The essential elements for the definition of the proposal arise from the careful study of the program and the activity, which require a high degree of privacy, despite facing a public space. The volume built occupies the entire site. The building has a variable height: in Enric Casanovas Street the maximum height is 14.30 m and in Pablo Iglesias Street it is 14.15 m. The proposal consists of a volume covered with a ventilated and microperforated skin, which offers a good climatic behavior, while guaranteeing privacy from the outside. All openings are protected and appear as Chinese shadows from the street, creating a comfortable light gradient inside. The double skin adapts and shapes the different façades.Mostres d'Arquitectura (Barcelona)
Shortlisted. Category: Edificis d’Ús No Residencial de Promoció PúblicaProsperitat Social Services CentreMostres d'Arquitectura (Barcelona)
Shortlisted. Category: Edificis d’Ús Residencial de Promoció Pública51 Social Housing Units for Young People Ali BeiCentre de Serveis Socials, Casal de Barri i Ludocteca de Can Travi
Conxita Balcells Associats, Conxita Balcells i Blesa
Dwellings on a site Adjacent to the Estació de França Railway Station
Conxita Balcells Associats, Conxita Balcells i Blesa
The object of the project is the construction of 150 officially protected homes, with a commercial establishment and two underground floors for parking, located on Doctor Aiguader Street in Barcelona. The proposal responds to the high density of the functional program, while adapting and shrinking its volume in height, understanding its immediate environment and its uniqueness (confluence of the Ronda Litoral with the Born district, the França station and the Barceloneta on the other side of the Ronda). The houses are arranged according to the best orientation, recognising the shadow caused by the large volume of the neighbouring building. It is a single volume built with 2 central courtyards where the North, South and East façades follow the perimeter of the site while the West façade takes the direction of the Barceloneta blocks. The building is organised from two nuclei with a type of housing where the day and night part is different, as well as a strip of services that is arranged parallel to the access corridor.Mostres d'Arquitectura (Barcelona)
Shortlisted. Category: Edificis amb Ús Residencial. Inclou Edificis d'Habitatges Plurifamiliars de Promoció Pública o PrivadaDwellings on a site Adjacent to the Estació de França Railway StationUrbanisation of the Baluard del Migdia Surroundings
Conxita Balcells i Blesa, Lola Domènech i Oliva
This project has two fundamental objectives: firstly, to recover and integrate the urban spaces around the França Railway Station and the old Baluard del Migdia, and, secondly, to connect two central neighbourhoods, historically disconnected in this point: the Ribera and the Barceloneta districts. The new public spaces, next to the buildings built in recent years, will offer the possibility to stroll around the area and will highlight the architectural heritage of the city with the recovery of the old Baluard del Migdia. The existence of the archaeological structures of the old Baluard del Migdia (16th century), the Muralla del Mar wall and the Contraescarpa from the beginning of the 18th century, shape a new urban setting. The project collects and solves the surroundings of the old bastion, creating a balcony and a restricted access ramp for specific visits. Archaeological finds have made it possible to find out that the sea reached this point in the 3rd century and that it was suitable for navigation until the 15th century, period in which a breakwater was built. The land gained ground and the Baluard del Migdia and the maritime fortification were built between the 16th and 19th century. The action carried out recovers the archaeological complex of the old sea front, showing the lower level of the original moat between the walls and generating at the same time, a perimeter urban space of the upper level that allows this heritage context to be visualised. The area that borders the old França Railway Station, occupied until then by a parking area, is transformed into a public space for pedestrians, open and accessible, that now allows to connect with the Barceloneta neighbourhood and that incorporates an extensive strolling area under new vegetation.Mostres d'Arquitectura (Barcelona)
Shortlisted. Category: Intervencions Paisatgístiques i Ordenació d’Espais UrbansUrbanisation of the Baluard del Migdia SurroundingsBibliography (17)
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