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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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:
2019-2024 Aureli Mora i Omar OrnaqueDocumental Commission:
2019-2024 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:
2019-2024 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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Memory
Pedro López Iñigo, (Burgos, 1926 - Barcelona, 1997)
Es titula a l'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona el 1951.
El 1954 entrà al Patronat Municipal de la vivenda.
Forma, amb Guillermo Giráldez Dávila i Xavier Subias Fages, el despatx professional: Arquitectos G. Giráldez Dávila, P. Lopez Iñigo, J. Subias Fages, de 1955 a 1996. El despatx representa l'aposta per l'avantguarda moderna i reformista que trenca amb l'academicisme imperant dels 50.
Les obres més rellevants del despatx són: Habitages experimentals a Madrid (1955), la biblioteca del COAC (1962, avui desapareguda), Facultat de dret (1957-1958) i la Facultat d'econòmiques(1962-1966), Escola Betània Patmos (1963-1969), Institució Cultural CIC (1961-1962), avantprojecte i primera fase de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1969-1973), Bibloteca de la Facultat de Lletres.
En urbanisme destaquen el Polígon Montbau (1957-1968), el polígon del Sud-OEst del Besòs (1959-1961), el polígon Canyelles (1974)
Destaquen també l'Hospital Oncològic Duran y Reynals (1973-1978) i la Clínica Dexeus (1968-1981)
El despatx es va dissoldre amb la mort d'en Pedro López Iñigo.
Source: Arxiu Històric del COAC
Works (30)
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Cataloged
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Constellation
Chronology (35)
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Montbau Industrial Estate
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
The Montbau district, located below the Tibidabo, next to Passeig de la Vall d'Hebron, has a total area of approximately 31 Ha. The part built today, or in a very advanced stage of construction, consists of two basic residential units. The garden and the neighbourhood park are also practically finished. A group of about 70 single-family homes in the upper part of the slope is currently under construction, a group that we will not include in the present analysis because it is in a very little advanced phase and, therefore, without specific data. The architect of this group is Joan Bosch. Who are the authors of Montbau? Here is a first concrete problem that can lead us to general considerations. Due to programming requirements, the Municipal Housing Board decided to commission the architects Guillermo Giráldez, Pedro López and Xavier Subías with the urgency of a very few weeks as a matter of urgency. By what criteria were these architects chosen? Probably for simple reasons of proximity, administrative relationship, circumstantial insufficiency of the technical staff itself, etc. But was there a concern to choose a good team precisely for one of the largest projects that were then being developed? At least, or was there an awareness that, by chance and for reasons of bureaucratic convenience, he had fallen into the hands of a good team, then with a promising youthful push? * The original Partial Plan was altered, both in its first phase, slightly, and in the second one, with a change of drafting team and urban planning that substantially modified it. -
FAD Award
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: ArchitectureFaculty of Law of the UBFaculty of Law of the UB
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
The configuration of the building adopts clarity and economy based on the short term imposed by the drafting of the project and its construction. Discrimination between teaching and representative purposes is reflected in the composition of two bodies. The body of the classroom, with two floors, is located concurrently to Diagonal Avenue, with three courtyards in the centre. The body that houses the administrative and study purposes has five floors and is located in a perpendicular direction. The ground floor, which only contains classrooms at the back, communicates both bodies in a single circulation space. The structure of the whole building, made of laminated steel, forms a regular module of 6.20 x 3.84 metres, which doubles in the rooms that require more surface. The building applies constructive economy criteria that renew the guidelines applied in Catalonia by the first generation of modern architects.Pla Parcial Sud-Oest del Besòs: Quarta Fase
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
Blocks A and B of Montbau Estate
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
These are the typologies that make up the part of the esplanade and delimit the area that hosts the civic activity and the relationship between the neighbourhood of the project, not only of the first phase, but of the projected housing complex. It consists of linear blocks of different heights, distributed to optimise the views and light: the buildings of lower height are projected parallel to the slope of the mountain, facing west and, those of higher height, perpendicular, oriented to the south. Blocks A and B form the level of the north-eastern end of the representative square, which is generated in 3 levels, adapting to the existing topography. Block A, with a ground floor + 10 landings, is a screen-type building that collects the space of the square at this end. Block B, perpendicular to the previous one, occupies the south-west side and has a permeable ground floor that allows the extension of the square, generating a kind of porch terrace with views over the city. It is only 4 storeys high, which allows views from the building on the other side of the square, located at a higher level. A canopy joins the two blocks at ground floor level. The typology is of 2 houses by landing with surfaces of 100m2 and 66m2, of 2 and 3 bedrooms. The façades of the two blocks are identical towards the square, creating a uniform frame that contrasts with the unique buildings on the other sides.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureEl Besòs South-West Partial PlanMontbau Estate: Second Unit
Manuel Baldrich Tibau, Antoni Bonet Castellana, Pedro López Iñigo, Josep Maria Soteras i Mauri
When the decision to build the second sector was made in 1961, the Board of Trustees commissioned the architects Manuel Baldrich, Antoni Bonet, Pedro López Iñigo and Josep Soteras to drat the corresponding architectural project. What were the reasons for choosing this heterogeneous team, made up of two municipal architects, a provincial architect and an independent architect, who had just arrived from Argentina with an obvious professional prestige? This team, despite the presence of municipal architects, one of them co-author of the first Plan, decided that it could not be limited to design the buildings, but it was also necessary to completely redo the urban structure of that sector. A new Plan was therefore drawn up, which was approved on July 2, 1962. With this new Plan it seems that exactly the double number of dwellings that had been initially planned in that sector were built.Montbau Industrial Estate: First Unit
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
The architects quickly made a complete enough Advanced Plan to approach the requirements of a Partial Plan (1957) so it could be presented at an urgent commemorative exhibition. After the exhibition, the City Council's Technical Services completed, modified and, in fact, redrafted the Plan until it was fully approved. Among these corrections, imposed through the procedure, it is necessary to consider some of special importance: the addition of another floor to all the buildings that appeared in the Plan. It was a last-minute 'administrative' imposition, given the fear that the land would be too expensive due to low building density. Here is how, with the simple handling of the aseptic and seemingly harmless text of the Volumetric Ordinances, one can redo an inclusive plan and misrepresent on possible guiding ideas. With this distortion, the Plan was approved on December 13, 1957. In accordance with this project, the Board carries out the first sector. The Board of Trustees is limited to acting as a general developer, making various private entities, especially Cooperatives, act as owners and builders. The administrative system is interesting and proves to be extraordinarily effective, especially in economic channeling, and even in some limited sociological integration.Block Q of Montbau Estate
Manuel Baldrich Tibau, Antoni Bonet Castellana, Pedro López Iñigo, Josep Maria Soteras i Mauri
356.The design of the Q block, together with the P and R, made it possible to double the density of the building in the second stage of Montbau’s construction, separated from the first by the Torrent Central (Pomaret). Organisationally, it is similar to the L’s short arm of block P, with a square plant and 17 m laterally. In the same way, the staircase is in the middle and gives access to 4 houses per landing. But having 14 floors in height instead of just 4, requires the installation of elevators. Two of them are placed per block, serving the even and odd plants respectively. The other differentiating factor is the 45º turn with respect to the arrangement of the other buildings, in order to achieve a good orientation and to avoid the frontality between the towers, optimising the views and the sunlight that all the houses receive. It is the only building for which the ground was leveled, so that all 4 façades are of the same height. The structure of this building is mixed with concrete and masonry. At the time, there was still a tendency to build taller buildings with the load-bearing wall system. In this case, the reinforced concrete is introduced into the exterior walls and the brick is retained for the interior structure.Block P of Montbau Estate
Manuel Baldrich Tibau, Antoni Bonet Castellana, Pedro López Iñigo, Josep Maria Soteras i Mauri
In the second stage of planning the Montbau housing estate, there is an increase in building density. It will be the way some buildings are grouped together and the increase in height of others that will make it possible to achieve this. The resulting public space has a more domestic scale, generating small squares around the building. The P block is one of the types developed for this purpose. A succession of L-shaped blocks, staggered, generates a unique framework, around which 3 separate groups are projected, formed by 3 towers each and which close the whole. The homes on the long side of the L have a ventilated and illuminated staircase on the facade and access from the street to the second-floor level, which requires a different typology to the first floor. Here the houses have only one façade, facing the square. On the second, third and fourth floors there are two homes per landing, with a front and rear façade. On the short side of the L, the staircase is in the middle of the floor and gives access to four apartments per landing. In the block, all parts, except for the toilets, are exterior. And both in the rooms and in the main bedrooms, there is a setback in the façade plan that gives an outdoor space, some terraces, in front of them and generates a very characteristic compositional element that is different from the rest of the façades that do not face the square. The constructive system of load-bearing brick walls allows these large openings, given that they are perpendicular to the south and north façades. The façades combine the work seen with glazed ceramic pieces from La Bisbal in blueish and greenish colours.South-West Besòs Estate
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Enric Giralt i Ortet, Pedro López Iñigo, Josep Puig i Torné, Xavier Subías i Fages
The limits covered by this plan are the following: East alignment of Prim Street; South alignment of José Antonio Primo de Rivera Avenue to the square next to Besòs; Western alignment of the second belt of the Ronda, and Northern alignment of Llull Street. The previously indicated perimeter covers land located in the municipal area of Barcelona and a small part in the municipal area of Sant Adrià de Besòs. This last area has an urban layout based on large blocks designed as room units and has been designed to achieve an entrance to Barcelona in accordance with the importance of the city. This partial plan was born from the need to create a large estate intended for modest housing to be built by the Municipal Housing Board, due to its special characteristics, it had to combine the following points: a) Economy in urbanisation. b) Consideration of the difficulty of drainage due to lack of height. c) Union between the Poblat Dirigit part and the rest of the building that is expected to be of a higher category. The first two points are opposed. The proposed solution is the middle ground, since the economy of the urbanisation advised to keep the same level of the land with the consequent deficiency in the evacuation of wastewater and the complete lack of drainage for rainwater. This solution, which was not satisfactory, has moved to raise the levels as little as possible to obtain a sufficient slope, so that a unitary sewer system could be built. Therefore, the levels rise by an average of one metre in the entire Poblat Dirigit area. The game of volumes with an alternative juxtaposition of solids and voids has been the aesthetic guideline at the core of this plan. This theme is framed by series of blocks, the arrangement of which is conjugated with the previous one, although with a slight preponderance of the idea of "frame", not as an enclave of a theme, but as a finished continuity of the same.FAD Award
Finalist. Category: ArchitectureUB Faculty of Economic ScienceBlock N of Montbau Estate
Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes, Guillermo Giráldez Dávila, Pedro López Iñigo, Xavier Subías i Fages
The editorial team of Bloc N takes a trip to Germany, where they visit the reconstruction of some cities under the precepts of the Modern Movement. The visit to the International Exhibition of Berlin Interbau 57 and the reconstruction of the Hansaviertel district have a great influence on them. Architects visit works by Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Alvar Aalto and Walter Gropius. But the residential tower of the Dutch Bakema and Van der Broek is of special relevance. In the N block of Montbau, which still being projected in the first phase did not find its position on the plan until 1968, the exploration of the section of the tower of the Dutch made by the Catalan team and applied to its design is remarkable. The building, made of a ground floor and 15 additional floors, is the tallest one of the complex. It has a vertical access core and 8 homes per floor with access through a walkway. The house is organised in three half-heights: one for access, another for living-dining room and kitchen and the third for bedrooms and bathrooms. The structure is made of load-bearing walls, of reinforced concrete, 25 cm parallel to the front wall. Access to the homes is made every 3 floors, in a staggered fashion. This block gives the singular point to the square framed by blocks A and B, being the most visible element of the set.Premi Ciutat de Barcelona
Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Restauració d'EdificisAntic Dormidor del Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de PedralbesArchive (10)
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Drawing
Perspectiva de l'exterior del Polígon Montbau: Unitat Nord-Est.
Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Drawing
Perspectiva.
© Fons Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Drawing
Perspectiva.
© Fons Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Drawing
Perspectiva.
© Fons Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Drawing
Perspectiva.
© Fons Giráldez - López Iñigo - Subías Arquitectes / Arxiu Històric del COAC
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Presentation
Montbau Estate: First Unit
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Plan
Montbau Estate: First Unit
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Plan
Montbau Estate: First Unit
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Plan
Montbau Estate: First Unit
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Plan
Montbau Estate: First Unit
Bibliography (30)
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