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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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:
2019-2023 Aureli Mora i Omar OrnaqueDocumental 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 OrnaqueExternal Collaborators:
2019-2023 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Helena Cepeda Inès Martinel Maria Jesús QuinteroWith the support of:
Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de CulturaCollaborating Entities:
ArquinFADFundació 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
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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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Perspectiva del conjunts del Pla d'Ordenació de la Vila Olímpica i del Port Olímpic.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Albert Puigdomènech i Alonso
- Date:
- 1985 - 1992
- Type:
- Drawing
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Perspectiva dels Habitatges Costa 59 des del Carrer de la Costa.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Date:
- 1975
- Type:
- Drawing
- Technique:
- Carbó
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbossos dels Habitatges Costa 59
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Date:
- 1975
- Type:
- Drawing
- Technique:
- Carbó
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Alçat dels Habitatges Can Folch.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1988 - 1992
- Type:
- Drawing
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Alçat de la xemeneia del recinte dels Habitatges Can Folch.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1988 - 1992
- Type:
- Drawing
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbós de la pèrgola d'accés als magatzems de l'Escola Municipal de Vela.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1989
- Type:
- Drawing
- Dimensions:
- 20,8 x 30,8cm
- Technique:
- Llapis
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Perspectives de l'Escola Municipal de Vela
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1989
- Type:
- Drawing
- Dimensions:
- 59,4 x 84,1cm
- Technique:
- Tinta
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbós de la Coberta de l'Escola Municipal de Vela
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1989
- Type:
- Drawing
- Dimensions:
- 29,7 x 42cm
- Technique:
- Llapis
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
close
Alçat de l'accés a l'Escola Municipal de Vela.
- Author:
- MBM Arquitectes
- Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola
- David Mackay
- Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
- Date:
- 1989
- Type:
- Drawing
- Dimensions:
- 29,7 x 42cm
- Technique:
- Llapis, Llapis Color
- Support:
- Paper
- Fonds / Held by:
- Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
- Rights:
- © Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
Memory
Estudi fundat l’any 1951 per Oriol Bohigas 1925 - i Josep Martorell 1925 – 2017, els quals van ser membres del Grup R. L’any 1962 s’incorporà David Mackay 1933 – 2014, convertint-se en l’estudi MBM. Guardonats amb nombrosos premis, tals com el ciutat de Barcelona l’any 2000 o diversos premis FAD. De la seva extensa obra trobem l’edifici Escorial (1955), la Mutua Metalúrgica de Seguros (1959), obra l’Edifici Pallars 301-319 (1960) o l’escola Thau (1975)
Source: Arxiu Històric del COAC
Works (67)
On the Map
Constellation
Cronology (84)
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Housing Complex on the Milans del Bosch Estate
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Set of five isolated blocks of social housing that occupies an entire block of the Milans del Bosch industrial estate. Four of the five blocks are five storeys high and the fifth one, ten. The structure of all of them is load-bearing walls perpendicular to the façades. The houses are all the same. One of the main concerns of the architects was in the distribution of the blocks in the block, which was modified until the last moment. In the end, it was decided to place them in such a way that they formed a large square of 85 x 40 metres. They landscaped this square with many trees and urbanised it with regionalist elements. There are no services or commercial premises because the master plan groups them in a shopping centre that supplies the entire estate. The five-storey blocks have several stair cores, with two apartments per landing, the façades are made of exposed brick, the roof is covered with Arabic tile, and the bands and jambs are exposed reinforced concrete. The ten-storey block has a single core of stairs with elevators that leads to exterior corridors that are located 50 cm below the level of the dwellings to preserve the privacy of the tenants. These corridors are located on the north façade and are visually protected by a concrete lattice. The other façades of this block are covered in white ceramic, leaving the bands and blind boxes visible. -
FAD Award
Finalist. Category: Architecture
Cooperative Housing BuildingMeridiana Dwellings
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The building, oriented from north to south, supports the houses on both sides and leaves four very comfortable courtyards where the interior rooms breathe. A structural system of concrete screens allows to crisply fit four houses per landing, and each house is organised in two corridors: the smallest contains the kitchen, the dining room and the living room, while the largest contains the bedrooms. A system of variants for the openings allows the windows to be skewed to the south and the large façade plan to be modeled as a varied and three-dimensional fabric, where the ceramic plate is combined with the concrete of the hoops and dihedrals that support the grandstands.Borrell Dwellings
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Building between partitions located in the Eixample of Barcelona. The character and scale of the buildings in the area – most of them from the beginning of the century – motivated the design of the façade to achieve its adaptation to the urban environment, avoiding historicist concessions. This explains why the traditional glazed "stands" were used as pieces superimposed on the façade plan. The fundamental axis around which the different floors are resolved is a complex of vertical circulations formed by two staircases located symmetrically on the sides of a central courtyard for lighting and ventilation. On the ground floors, a third access staircase is incorporated exclusively for commercial premises, which occupy a significant area due to the commercial influence of the nearby Sant Antoni market.FAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: ArchitectureBorrell DwellingsFAD Award
Finalist. Category: Interior DesignLa Mariona RestaurantParish Church of Christ Redemptor
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The Parish Church of Crist Redemptor is a building annexed to an old parish complex in a popular neighbourhood of Barcelona. It is placed on one side of the existing rooms, delimiting, at the rear, a small interior patio that allows light to enter certain parts of the chapel while at the same time generating a communication space between the old and the new church. In fitting it into the site, the team of architects decided to set the built volume back a few metres with respect to the alignment of the street to give more space to the passer-by, through a square that refers to the traditional squares of the towns, in which the parishioners gathered after mass. Although this space is currently closed when events are not held in the chapel, it allows the neighbours, accustomed to the winding, small and sloping streets of the neighbourhood, to take a break. A flat square, raised a few metres from the ground to separate itself from noise and daily walking, a meeting place with benches and masonry walls. The plant is built in a single nave, of an industrial nature, with a porticoed structure in the form of triangulated wooden trusses. The façades and walls are made of traditional earth-coloured brick and the steel finishes, as well as the pillars that support a concrete beam on one side of the chapel, are painted reddish. These sought-after tones provide visual homogeneity to the space. The roof is sloping to two waters. The finish is carried out with ceramic tile, as it is a local material and in accordance with the materials of the church as a whole. Exceptionally, and to provide overhead light to the interior space, strips of transparent tiles are placed in the centre of the roof to allow light to enter. The entire assembly rests on a wooden board and is insulated with a layer of fiberglass.Heredero House
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Tredòs és una petita localitat propera a l’estació d’esquí de Vaquèira, a 1.200 metres d’altitud. La casa, emplaçada a mig pendent de la muntanya, respon a un programa de vacances per a una família nombrosa. El projecte disposa una sèrie de terrasses a mitja falda del pendent, que afavoreixen l’accés a peu i les activitats a l’aire lliure. L’habitatge pròpiament dit consta de quatre peces quadrades separades per una escletxa en creu, on es disposen unes escales de trams curts que connecten fluidament tots els àmbits de la casa. El nucli és format per quatre llars de foc a les plantes inferiors i quatre banys a la planta superior, i culmina en les quatre xemeneies de la coberta. Els vuit cossos prismàtics resultants queden clarament diferenciats en el volum exterior. La coberta a quatre aiguavessos i els paraments de color gris terrós permeten integrar la casa al paisatge sense necessitat de recórrer a la imitació de llenguatges vernaculars.Parròquia de la Sagrada Família
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
El conjunt arquitectònic està format per dos edificis: la rectoria i l'església. Aquesta última està dividida en tres cossos que són: la nau principal, l'altar del Santíssim i la sagristia, units per una torre que fa de campanar. Els edificis estan rodejats per un gran finestral a la part superior, sense cap més obertura; les parets de totxo vist i les arestes romes. A l'interior de la nau principal hi ha columnes de totxo i una estructura metàl·lica que la cobreix. Tots els edificis són de quatre vessants fibrociment i coronats per una claraboia en forma de llanternó. Tots els materials de construcció: bigues metàl·liques formigó i totxo; són vistos, sense cap tipus de falsejament. Total absència d'elements ornamentals. (a excepció de les tres talles, que representen la Sagrada Família, situades en la part de l'altar major- veure fitxa) L'engrandiment i importància que pren un nou barri a Igualada, el "Poble Sec", provoca la necessitat d'una nova església parroquial. El projecte fou realitzat per l'equip d'arquitectes compost per : Josep Mª Martorell, Oriol Bohigas i David Mackay, dirigint les obres aquest últim. Edifici representatiu de l'arquitectura religiosa postconciliar.Sant Jordi Primary School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
L’escola dóna resposta a un programa d’ensenyament experimental en què les activitats personalitzades prenen molta importància. El conjunt s’organitza al voltant d’un espai central, de doble alçària, destinat al desenvolupament expressiu, i l’accés a les diverses dependències comunes de la planta baixa té lloc per mitjà d’uns recorreguts que eviten les disposicions seriades o en bateria, amb la finalitat que cada àmbit de treball tingui una identitat pròpia. A la planta primera hi ha les aules, si bé els espais de circulació són entesos també com llocs de treball i d’aprenentatge. La planta coberta acull la pista esportiva, i les terrasses i els recorreguts, inclosos els dos ponts d’acer formats per les graderies, responen al seu ús com a indret d’esbarjo. L’estructura es resol amb un forjat reticular, susceptible de ser retallat per qualsevol punt, i suportat per uns pilars d’acer que passen desapercebuts entre els tancaments.Apartments for Teachers at Sant Jordi Infant and Primary School (Phase 1)
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Edifici de 12 habitatges (110 m2) per als mestres de l’escola "Sant Jordi", al poble de Pineda. S’entra a través d’un espai porticat que enllaça el carrer amb un pati semipúblic posterior. Des d’aquest espai es dona accés als dos habitatges situats a aquesta planta. A través d’una escala amb trams continus, que divideix l’edifici transversalment, es puja a la planta 2ª, on un carrer obert a la muntanya permet entrar als 5 habitatges en dúplex que ocupen aquesta planta i la inferior. Des d’aquest passadís obert, i mitjançant dos escales metàl·liques sobreposades a la façana com un objecte independent, s’entra als 5 habitatges en dúplex que ocupen les dos plantes superiors. Gracies a aquest esquema de circulacions s’ha arribat a l’eliminació de la caixa d’escala, d’excessiva adequació a una tipologia urbana en desacord amb el caràcter de la zona. Amb això es singularitza l’accés a cada habitatge, oferint un itinerari més ric i divers i més integrat a un paisatge rural encara no urbanitzat totalment i a un tipus de vida diferent de la plantejada en els nuclis urbans densos.PIHER Badalona Factory Building (Phase 3)
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The entire industrial complex and its restrooms are included within a single container of 31m x 51m x 17m, with dimensions that are determined by the permitted occupation of the plot and by considerations of urban suitability rather than by functional matters. The complex relationship between the manufacturing warehouses and the offices, with restrooms and access, is resolved, therefore, within this general envelope, which is characterised by a unitary cladding of iron plate, only interrupted by the small windows cracks that, more than elements of lighting and ventilation, are simple references to the outside, of psychological value. The rigid parallelepiped volume is altered by the continuous scale of the W façade and by the successive overhangs of each floor that protect the windows. Within this volume, there are three manufacturing floors accessed by the aforementioned staircase, which is at the same time a means of visual communication unifying the three environments.Garbí School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Construcció d'una escola de nova planta, construïda en tres fases, per Parvulari Primària, Secundària i Batxillerat per a un total de 1300 alumnes aproximadament. La construcció de la primera fase es va desenvolupar d'acord amb l'equip de pedagogs, amb la idea que l'arquitectura havia de col·laborar al procés educacional, creant a l'alumne la plena consciència de pertànyer responsablement a una comunitat. Totes les dependències es van agrupar al voltant d'una plaça central coberta d'ús múltiple, encara que fonamentalment utilitzada com a menjador,. L'organització tenia una certa analogia urbana: la plaça central comunitària que aglutinava al seu voltant els diversos àmbits més privatitzats. Al poc temps es va decidir transformar i ampliar l'edifici en tres fases successives, en les quals es va intentar no modificar el concepte inicial. L'espai comú, amb la seva analogia urbana, es va mantenir, però la imatge de plaça es va transformar en la d'una successió de carrers i placetes interiors i exteriors. La tècnica d'ampliació va ser simplement additiva, gràcies al fet que l'edifici no tenia cap rigidesa compositiva i podia créixer segons una morfologia gairebé imprevista, en certa manera relacionada amb les formes populars. Aquest aspecte ve subratllat pels materials i sistemes de construcció usats: parets de maó, aplacats de ceràmica tradicional, formigó i fusta natural.Apartment Complex at Pals Golf Club
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Es tracta d’un bloc allargat situat en una pineda i orientat de muntanya a mar. És format per dues crugies separades per un corredor d’accés. Els apartaments s’organitzen en tres tipus. Els més petits queden al nivell més alt, la qual cosa afavoreix l’escalonament i les vistes. Els de la planta baixa connecten directament amb l’exterior. La rigidesa de la planta contrasta amb la varietat de la secció, que busca una bona integració amb l’entorn i emfasitza la individualitat i el caràcter propi de cada apartament. Les façanes són arrebossades de color rosat, combinat amb algunes parts blanques, i les arestes queden remarcades per rivets de peces ceràmiques.Thau Primary and Secondary School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The building consists of two well-separated bodies, located at two different heights from a sloping plot of land. The lower body houses early childhood and primary education and has three floors, so the kindergarten classrooms are located on the ground floor and have direct access to the playground. The upper body, two storeys higher than the lower body, houses secondary education. The classrooms occupy the sunny façades (south-east and south-west), while on the north-east and north-west façades the access and connection stairs of all the floors are located, in glazed and differentiated volumes of the main body of the building. The set is articulated by means of bleachers that are used for outdoor activities throughout the school. The general approach is guided by the economy and rationality of the structural solution and by a very careful attention to the conditions of teaching and the interrelationships between the different parts of the program.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureThau Primary and Secondary SchoolCaponata Apartment Buildings
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Group of 34 houses (112 m2) organised in three independent buildings that marks out the area between a square and a passage with glass roof. The neighbourhood in which it is located has very narrow streets that fail to define usable spaces. The placement of these spaces inside the site itself is a certain contribution to the urban quality of the environment. The houses are all on two floors, each set back on two planes at different heights, so that vertical circulation is carried out on very short flights of stairs, creating a certain almost horizontal continuity. The accesses are thus reduced to only two levels: the ground floor at square and passage level and the second with a continuous corridor integrated into the buildings themselves.La Salut Dwellings
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
It is the first project of the MBM studio that covers an entire block of houses, with a social housing program and a cooperative management system. The block has an irregular shape due to the tangential trace of the Riera de la Salut. The project strictly maintains the external alignment of the four streets and creates an interior square that can only be accessed from two opposite corners. The blocks are configured in a double corridor with an interior courtyard that includes the vertical communication hubs, which can be reached from the square, through porches. The configuration of the set emphasises the semi-public nature of the system of spaces in the interior of the block, which are treated as a network of irregular routes and located at different levels. The houses in the inner blocks, as well as the shops on the ground floor, give the façade to this interior system of spaces, endowed with a great urban character thanks to the treatment of the volumes and the façades.Martí l'Humà Residential Street Block
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The project starts from the desire to achieve a closer relationship between housing and public space in an urban context. The block of houses is part of an old industrial belt that has gradually been incorporated into the residential fabric of the city, which has forced important renovation processes of the buildings. In this case, the part of the block that can be renovated forms an L that covers almost its entire surface. The project establishes two housing blocks separated by an interior street that works as a semi-public space, linked at the same time to the housing and to the city's general road network. The outer block, which faces the two most important streets, includes four levels of housing on eight floors, while the inner block includes two levels of housing on four floors. In this way, the complex forms an arch well oriented to the south, and it is possible to illuminate and ventilate all the homes without the need for patios. In the higher block, the lower floors are reserved for shops, while those in the lower block incorporate some private gardens. The houses on the first floor are accessed directly from the street, while the access to the upper houses takes place through open corridors oriented to the north, above the two main streets.Eduardo Conde - Vives i Tutó Dwellings
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Ensemble of 50 homes (100 - 150 m2), organised in two buildings, articulated by the staircase and elevators, which open onto an interior garden shared at the same time by another building on Vives i Tutó Street. One of the two buildings is organised along a glazed passage with double access gallery to the homes. The other, with a façade on Eduard Conde Street, is a linear succession of apartments that, in contact with the south partition, splits in two to maintain continuity with the neighbouring building. Access is through galleries open to the garden. The houses have two floors, each subdivided into two planes at a different level, with which the vertical circulation takes place in very short sections of stairs, creating a certain almost horizontal continuity. The higher dwellings increase with a third floor, subdivided into a covered room and an outdoor terrace.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureCaponata Apartment BuildingsFAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner (ex aequo). Category: ArchitectureLa Salut DwellingsFAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureEduardo Conde - Vives i Tutó DwellingsFAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureCosta i Llobera SchoolRehabilitation of Pascual i Pons Palace
Espinet/Ubach, Arquitectes i Associats, MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Miquel Espinet i Mestre, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Antoni Ubach i Nuet
Between 1890 and 1891, the architect Enric Sagnier i Villavecchia built two adjacent palaces on lots number 2 and 4 of Passeig de Gràcia for Mr. Sebastià Pascual and for his brother-in-law D. Alexandre Pons. The obvious contact between both owners allowed Sagnier to build the two buildings with obvious organisational but, above all, stylistic connections. During the years until the start of the project, there were many works of varying significance that were carried out, leaving countless scars on the building. Despite the unfortunate state of the building, the Barcelona City Council has it listed in its catalog of buildings to preserve because of its testimonial value of Catalan modernism. Things being this way, they decided to draw up the expansion, rehabilitation and transformation project. The main features of this extensive and complex intervention were, firstly, to unify the two old palaces in a single building, the access of which is from Passeig de Gràcia. The scope of this unification is to remodel the vertical accesses, elevators and stairs, around a courtyard of light that is one of the points of greatest interest in the project. Secondly, to undertake the works to rejuvenate the constructive system of the building. Thirdly, the 5th floor is extended over the old roof, taking advantage of the opening under the barbican. The introduction of the gallery in the rencontre between the façade and the roof tends to improve the slenderness of the building. The criteria for restoring the façade are various: reintegrate the pinnacle with an orthogonal base, repair all the deteriorated elements, replace some Gothic windows that were mutilated and integrate into the configuration scheme the façades built on the old platforms of Casp Street and Ronda Universitat as of the openings on the ground floor once the commercial character of these has been consolidated. We wanted to maintain the duality between the old and modern building with the coexistence of the original hall on the ground floor, executed in Montjuic stone and stucco, with the vertical patio built with white concrete understood as a version of technological stone, and to restore the few pieces of the first floor that have managed to survive to this day. The light fixture in the old lobby was designed by Miguel Milá.FAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: RestorationRehabilitation of Pascual i Pons PalaceLa Creueta del Coll Park
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The area covered by this project was practically empty without any special significance and without any urban order. It corresponds to a hill that had been partially occupied by the industrial exploitation of a quarry. This empty and abandoned space seemed very suitable to project a public park in the La Teixonera neighbourhood, which is close by. To do this, it was necessary to specify some areas for collective use and to draw good lines of communication between the neighbourhood and the park. The transformation of the large hole left by the quarry is based on two ideas: adapting the northern slopes of the land, with a special but slight reforestation, between winding paths that mark spaces enabled for neighbourhood use, and to emphasise theatrically the central part, that is the deepest and the one that maintains more topographic memories of the establishment. This sector is integrated into the urban landscape with a lake on two levels which, in addition to offering various leisure and sports opportunities, is a very suitable setting for a large sculpture by Chillida to mark the compositional centre, rhetorically reflected in the water. The park has two access lines, from the north and from the south. An itinerary that allows you to contemplate the complex geography of the environment and communicate directly with the public space with the two nearest neighbourhood units, so that the activities that the park's own design predisposes are ensured.Can Borrell Residential Street Block
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
It consists of a group of 200 social housing units on a block of houses in the new extension of Mollet, made up of a plot of 100 x 100 metres, with the four façades facing the four cardinal points. The solution gives a different answer to each of the four faces, depending on the orientation and the urban character of each street. The blocks to the south and west are made up of two storeys of duplex houses; the lower ones are accessed from inside the block and the upper ones by means of an elevated corridor that escapes from the corner square. On the east side, the block doubles, with a vertical access from the interior passage and single-level homes that overlook both sides. The north block also has single-level housing and is accessed from the inner patio. The ensemble emphasises the south and west façades of the block, the only ones with shops, and reiterates the desire to give the patio a public nature through an access from the interior.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: Buildings of new plant for private useCan Borrell Residential Street BlockEU Mies Award
ShortlistedLa Creueta del Coll ParkPla d'Ordenació Sector Migdia
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Albert Puigdomènech i Alonso
Sobre les 13 hectàrees que prèviament havien ocupat les casernes (1943-93), opaques als plans que —de manera intensiva i canviant (1955, 1971 i 1980)— havien densificat la trama gasiva de l’eixample, s’obrí la primera oportunitat contemporània de concebre ex novo tot un gran fragment de la nova ciutat. El procés comportà negociacions intenses amb l’Administració militar, en les quals també es veieren implicades peces de la ciutat antiga, i de seguida fou situat per l’alcaldia sota la batuta d’un «indiscutible» Bohigas, a fi de superar-hi les limitacions que el planejament havia demostrat i per tal d’entendre aquella oportunitat des d’una lògica de projecte. L’ordenament executat conservà algunes peces militars (finalment abatudes), establí una envoltant definida a les cares nord i est, ubicà aparcaments soterrats i un ampli parc públic i treballà les relacions amb latrama urbana per dilatar-la i donar-hi continuïtats matisades, sense perdre, però, una certa autonomia del conjunt per si mateix. S’hi havien d’encabir 60.000 m2 de sostre, sobretot residencial. Per sort, la gestió peça per peça fracassà i calgué la formació d’una empresa ad hoc, que executaria tot el procés. El projecte defineix una «U» de sis nivells, amb ordenances tan precises com un metaprojecte, que encara amb una gran concavitat al nord la relació amb l’eix principal i penetra al parc amb dues torres de 16 nivells, presidint-lo i inserint-se en una làmina d’aigua que el centra. El parc s’hi desenvolupa amb recursos tradicionals d’arbrat, jardineria i tanques al carrer i desplega un gran espai central polaritzat per l’estany, una illa i una gran pèrgola que donen la rèplica, com a buit, al ple marcat pels edificis. Malgrat els matisos ben contemporanis del llenguatge i alguns jocs volumètrics, com les torres dissociades, l’actitud general importa d’un neoclassicisme centreeuropeu la matriu d’una bellesa basada en l’ordre, l’homogeneïtat i la repetició.Olympic Port
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Albert Puigdomènech i Alonso
It is a port that must meet three objectives: to be a good base for maritime sports and leisure, to accommodate the complex demands of maritime competitions and, above all, to be a good setting for a new centre of citizen activity; an active focus that includes some of the revitalising aspects of the new Nova Icària neighbourhood. The port’s water table is divided into two docks: the interior of 255 m. x 193 m. and the exterior of 360 m. x 75 m, with a total capacity of 670 moorings. Between the two docks, the 52 m wide service pier includes a car park (180 spaces), a boat repair area and the services of reception, control and fuel supply. A large perimeter space is organised around these two docks, which must be used for the ports’ needs, but which must also be a new centre of urban activities. This perimeter space is subdivided into two levels: the docks, between elevations 1.70 m. and 22.50 m., and the walk, elevated to a height of 7 m., approximately.Veïnat School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Albert Puigdomènech i Alonso
L’escola adopta una crugia circular d’una sola planta que gira al voltant d’un petit pati d’esbarjo, que serveix el parvulari. Cada aula té comunicació amb aquest pati, d’una banda, i amb el recinte arbrat de l’exterior, de l’altra. Les aules es cobreixen amb dos vessants que permeten incorporar una tarja elevada de ventilació creuada. La crugia circular es trenca en dues parts ben diferenciades, la de l’escola de primària i la del parvulari. Les escletxes que queden entre totes dues parts canalitzen l’accés des del carrer i el pas a la pista esportiva, situada en un recinte annex. Dos elements sobresurten en alçària: la torre circular de la biblioteca, situada al costat de l’entrada, i el cos de la sala polivalent, amb una coberta prismàtica més alta que la resta, de planxa ondulada pintada de color fosc, com la resta de cobertes. L’estructura combina pilastres de maó amb bigues i suports de formigó, i a cada lloc s’adapta a les peculiaritats del programa, i no a l’inrevés.Municipal Sailing School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The main facilities of the Municipal Sailing School are located under the Northeast elevated promenade, with the intention of not occupying or obstructing the totality of the large unitary space of the docks. The warehouse is concentrated in a building that acts as a terminal for the Northeast elevated walkway and as a hinge connecting with the linear assembly of the breakwater. It is a two-story building with bright white façades, topped with a set of 24 pyramids that solve both the problems of lighting and permanent ventilation and those of protection against water. The set of pyramids delimits a relatively privatised square for the practice of navigation’s preparatory exercises, from which you can go out on a ramp directly to the sea without having to cross all the port until the harbour’s mouth. The building of the Municipal Sailing School is a distinctive symbol, appreciable at a great distance, as an intelligible explanation and even rhetoric of the formal structures of the port.FAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Architecture - Public SpacesOlympic PortOlympic Village and Olympic Port Development Plan
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Albert Puigdomènech i Alonso
Urban planning of an area of 79 Ha. for the Olympic Village of Barcelona 1992 with 2,500 homes. Transformation of the seafront including 107,200 m2 of parks and 130,000 m2 for the Olympic Port’s facilities (739 moorings). MBM's work on this project consisted mainly of the urban design of the entire sector, as well as the authorship of some apartment buildings, the Litoral Park and the Olympic Port, which includes the Port's reception building (Port Authority) and the Municipal Sailing School. MBM was also in charge of supervising the 32 projects of the other architects' housing buildings and of coordinating all the architectural, landscaping and engineering work, including the expressways, the railway line, the metro and the infrastructure.El Litoral Park
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
This is a continuous green strip almost 2 km long which separates the two directions of access and exit from the city, and which includes, with different solutions, the Cinturó del Litoral as a segregated expressway. It is divided into three parks: the Les Cascades Park above the mouth of the Cinturó del Litoral tunnel with sculptures by Auke de Vries and Antoni Llena, the Port Pork, which connects directly to the Olympic Port and is protected from the noise of the circulation through two perimeter barriers of compact green mass of trees and a porched promenade, and the Icaria Park, the centre of attention which is a lake that follows the shape of the Greek island of Icaria, and which is located at the same low level of the Ronda, that in this section emerges from underground and five wooden bridges that cross the Ronda linking the city with the park and the sea.Nou de La Rambla Palace
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
New building of 7,043 m2 and 54 metres facing the Rambla, one of the most important and active streets, located in the heart of Barcelona's Ciutat Vella district. In the planning approach, the relationship of the building with the architectural environment and the design of façades that integrate correctly into the complex, but which determine a new level of quality, have been taken into account. The building is intended for tertiary uses: commercial premises, offices and parking for 800 cars, one of the first examples of robotic parking of this size in the whole world.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureNou de La Rambla PalaceFAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureNew Façades of El Corte InglésNew Façades of El Corte Inglés
Martínez Lapeña-Torres Arquitectos, MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, José Antonio Martínez Lapeña, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina, Elías Torres Tur
Department stores are growing and the city asks for a new façade. We spent several months trying to find a civil palatine façade, with a tower or bell tower, like those in the other buildings in Catalunya Square; incorporating memories of New York buildings (Wollworth, Rockefeller Center)..., Rome’s Rinascente, or some of F. Gehry in Boston, or even quieter ones… The façade is made of salmon beige granite, like the letters with the logo at the top of the corner. The plinth that covers the ground floor and the continuous eaves that protect it are made of brass. At the same corner the eaves rise like the wing of a hat. The south corner of the extension is a project of the MBM architecture studio, with horizontal rings on the last three floors. However, after a couple of hours of work, the façade of the interior of the block came easily. It is the façade that covers the evacuation stairs and the installation ducts and is covered with die-cast aluminum plates such as the radiator shutter of the Seat 600 car. Something similar happens in the Eixample’s courtyards: they are elementary and useful, as little in need of representation and ostentation as is the case on street façades. The slabs and granite of the street façades are the same size to fit together when they meet.Ciutadella Campus of the UPF
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Rehabilitation of an old military barracks to locate a university building with a capacity for 3000 students and 200 teachers. This is one of the buildings on the Ciutadella Campus of the Pompeu Fabra University set in several buildings scattered in Ciutat Vella. The original perimeter building is used for service classrooms and the dean's office. The two new bodies of classrooms and departments, located in the large central courtyard, have been treated with current styles. The classroom is a parallelepipedal building with a concrete structure and a very smooth and tense curtain wall façade - with no visible metal elements - facing the courtyard. The department building, in contrast, is a floating prism with a façade finish of wooden planks, left over from sawing, and continuous horizontal linear windows interrupted every two departments by a projecting fold of white aluminum. The large central courtyard is covered by a sawtooth roof with glass to the north, and will constitute the privileged space for the collective life of the students.Premio Década
Award-Winner / Winner
Olympic Village and Olympic Port Development PlanFAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureCiutadella Campus of the UPFMossos d'Esquadra Central Police Station
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
This is the building that will house a police station (Mossos d’Esquadra) and the offices of the Catalan Traffic Service. It is located in Plaça d’Espanya, at the junction of Gran Via and Paral·lel, two important avenues in the Eixample. The proposal is based on two autonomous bodies, each aligned on the two perimeter avenues and a central space that acts as a large lobby. The façades are structured with a modular system that allows them to be modified according to the variation of internal needs. Continuous bands of photovoltaic panels extend over this modulation. The location is very significant and will be the reason for an urban reconsideration of the whole of Plaça d’Espanya.Office Building for the UGT
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
This is project of an office building of 9,238 m2 with an L-shaped floor plan and different heights, located on a plot that is part of the "Urban Project of Robador Street’s block and its surroundings" promoted by Foment Ciutat Vella. It faces the streets of Sant Rafael, Sadurní, Sant Josep Oriol, the Rambla del Raval and a new square located between the building and the hotel. There are 2 floors of parking in the basement which occupy the perimeter of the office building, as well as that of the new square and the hotel. The building has been designed to be able to have many uses, from occupation by a single institution to a more fragmented subdivision of the space. The ground floor is interrupted by a hole that acts as a pedestrian passage between the new square and Sadurní Street, which allows direct communication from the Rambla del Raval to the housing block and the shops on the ground floor as well as in the new building of the Filmoteca de Catalunya in Salvador Seguí Square.Extension of Costa i Llobera Primary School
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
Prior to the expansion, the school was a set of three rectangular buildings located around a common space, a large open-air roof overlooking Barcelona, which serves as the centre of the school and leisure space. The extension consists of a fourth building of similar volume to the existing ones, designed using the same compositional and constructive criteria as the current buildings, in order to obtain a set with volumetric and topographical coherence that will accommodate a total of 910 students from 3 to 17 years old (from kindergarten to Senior High School). The new building is distributed on the ground floor, two floors and a basement – a multipurpose room and a gym – which match the levels of the current floors. On the ground floor, a bridge that connects (piercing the new building) the current courtyard with that of the extension is built, and it forms a large free space around the buildings. This floor is divided by the connection step. The first and second floors are connected on one side to the nearest existing building by glass bridges and on the other by the outdoor garden via metal stairs and a bridge. The ground floor and the first two floors are connected by a glazed staircase similar to the other school buildings. In the basement, at the same level as the main entrance of the current school, there is the multipurpose space / gym, with the corresponding changing rooms, which is partially developed under the playground.Auditorium and Gaudí Hall at Milà House
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The adaptation of the basements of La Pedrera for Auditorium and Sala Gaudí, tries to be very neutral and respectful of what remains of the original work. This is not a restoration that tries to return everything to its origin. It is about not adding, being neutral and discreet and avoiding imitations of Gaudí. It was necessary to assume the required structural reinforcements, the passage of the installations and comply with the current regulations. Caixa Catalunya Auditorium: 185 seats, side boxes for 78 seats extendable to the 110 m² outdoor patio, two simultaneous translation booths, a control room, three screens for cinematographic and audiovisual sessions, and a stage with a technical platform for conferences, with talks and theatrical or musical shows in a small format. Sala Gaudí: 92 seats, a control room interconnected with the translation and control booths of the Auditorium, a screen and a space for multipurpose shows and events without a fixed stage. General spaces: an entrance ramp/lobby, a gate, two cloakrooms, eight toilets, a toilet for the disabled, two dressing areas with toilets, showers and changing rooms, a kitchen-office and a guest room.Line 3 Metro Station: Liceu
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The project aims to design a very bright and clean station considering that it is a collective space with a very high density of daily circulation. The walls and ceilings of the platforms are covered with illuminated glass panels printed with the banana leaves that cover La Rambla. The aim was to translate the spatial and environmental virtues of the urban environment into the underground.La Casa dels Xuklis
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
This building is designed to accommodate families with children from outside the city suffering from cancer who are undergoing treatment in Barcelona. La Casa dels Xuklis is a pioneering project in Europe led by the Foundation of Children With Cancer and born from the AFANOC's initiative. It goes one step further than Maggie's centres in Scotland by adding a ground floor residence with patio. The construction of the residence is based on the typology of the courtyard – the Greek house, the Roman atrium, the Islamic courtyard, the Christian cloister – which responds to different cultural and social customs. We have identified the four pavilions with the four seasons of the year and the four orientations of the day. The residence provides accommodation for 25 families in "individual houses" of 30 m2, located around the courtyard. Each home has an articulated pitched roof to ensure cross ventilation which eliminates the dangers of air conditioning for these sufferers. It also has an independent Day Centre that allows non-resident families to enjoy a more domestic space where they can relax and communicate with the other families, patients and professional caregivers of the centre and where they receive specialised medical assistance and support. The 1,989 m2 building is located on land handed over by the Barcelona Council and is surrounded by gardens.La Torre Blanca
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
It is a building with 19 floors and two basements with different types of housing: single or duplex flats and one, two, three and four bedrooms. The dwellings are grouped around a vertical street and are articulated through three "urban squares" located one at street level, another one in the centre of the tower and along four floors, and the third at the top of the building with a stepped "skyline" at the top, without mechanical installations because they are located on each floor to provide service to the respective homes. The building is treated as a pure geometric figure: the prism, with specific exceptions where voids are produced that correspond to spaces of communal use: lobbies, duplex housing, community terrace, swimming pool and solarium so that they have natural lighting. The façade is composed of a series of repetitive horizontal elements that are only interrupted in the intersections with voids and elements of the building's general stairs.RBA Office Building
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The office building of 19,000 m2, 17 floors and 4 basements is located in the new 22@ district of the Poblenou district. It has a pedestrian crossing that crosses the building on the first three floors, two low silver entrances and two cores of vertical access. On the intermediate floors, there are the most public spaces, with an auditorium and terrace for the social activities of the publisher and the management offices and the library are located on the upper floors. The building exhibits two grammatical currents, one related to the shape and scale of the building, and the other to the detail of its chameleonic façades. The first one has to do with the irregular shape of the volume of the building that was predetermined by the planning of the site. Based on this, we realised that by projecting a simple rectangular composition on the main façade facing west in the style of the painter Piet Mondrian, the rectangle of the upper floors could float on the base. The terrace that remained between the two rectangles could become an ideal space for the company's outdoor social activities. The lower rectangle, on the other hand, could be detailed on a more human scale in contrast to the metropolitan scale of the upper rectangle. The second one raises the various solutions that could be adopted in terms of the orientation of the façades. The narrow north-facing façade, which overlooks Diagonal Avenue, did not require any protective elements and could be made entirely of glass. On the other hand, the long west-facing façade had to be protected from the heat and the intense light of the afternoon sun. For this, brise-soleils were placed on each floor, and screen-printed glass screens, which protect the slightly tinted glass of the horizontal windows, which introduce a more human relationship with the street. On the narrow south façade, horizontal terraces prevent the vertical penetration of the midday sun. The east façade, sheltered by the office building located ten metres away, did not need solar protection. Another factor that was taken into account was the reference to the industrial past of the neighbourhood, expressed through the simple structural frame with white aluminum profiles and light-coloured ceramic panels, alluding to the few brick factories still existing today.Disseny Hub Barcelona
MBM Arquitectes, Oriol Bohigas i Guardiola, Oriol Capdevila i Arús, Francesc Gual i Traginé, David Mackay, Josep Maria Martorell i Codina
The building is made up of two parts: one which is underground (taking advantage of the change in level caused by the urbanisation of Les Glòries Square) and another one that emerges above the +14.50 m level. The latter is a parallelepiped cut on biases with the same width as Àvila Street, so that it acts as an end and an indicator of the relations between the Eixample and the square without closing the views of the large central park. The underground deck has the treatment and use of public space, related, therefore, to the future Les Glòries Square project. The green carpet is one of the primary components and has been made with natural elements that guarantee sustainability and easy maintenance. The luminous graphics and the pergola complement the urban square located on the other side of the building, next to Meridiana Avenue. The bar restaurant is exteriorised at level +6.98 m, and offers an attraction to the public space. The lake is a compositional underline that links the various levels. The Catalan Energy Institute (ICAEN), once the building has been processed, has issued the energy qualification certificate with an A classification.Mostres d'Arquitectura (Barcelona)
Shortlisted. Category: Edificis d'Habitatges Plurifamiliars de Promoció Privada
La Torre BlancaArchive (9)
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Perspectiva del conjunts del Pla d'Ordenació de la Vila Olímpica i del Port Olímpic.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Perspectiva dels Habitatges Costa 59 des del Carrer de la Costa.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbossos dels Habitatges Costa 59
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Alçat dels Habitatges Can Folch.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Alçat de la xemeneia del recinte dels Habitatges Can Folch.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbós de la pèrgola d'accés als magatzems de l'Escola Municipal de Vela.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Perspectives de l'Escola Municipal de Vela
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Esbós de la Coberta de l'Escola Municipal de Vela
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Alçat de l'accés a l'Escola Municipal de Vela.
© Fons MBM / Arxiu Històric del COAC
Bibliography (100)
Authors (6)
