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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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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
Suggestion box
Request the image
We kindly invite you to help us improve the dissemination of Catalan architecture through this space. Here you can propose works and provide or amend information on authors, photographers and their work, along with adding comments. The Documentary Commission will analyze all data. Please do only fill in the fields you deem necessary to add or amend the information.
The Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya is one of the most important documentation centers in Europe, which houses the professional collections of more than 180 architects whose work is fundamental to understanding the history of Catalan architecture. By filling this form, you can request digital copies of the documents for which the Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya manages the exploitation of the author's rights, as well as those in the public domain. Once the application has been made, the Arxiu Històric del Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya will send you an approximate budget, which varies in terms of each use and purpose.
Memory
Barcelona has always been known for having a special sensitivity and respect towards its past, but at the same time for its forceful commitment to the future and the avant-garde. Las Arenas is a clear example of this, and it reveals the confluence of both concepts: historicist architectural respect and technological commitment.
The old bullring, in disuse since 1989, had become a symbol after more than a century; not so much for its architectural value as for being part of the city’s landscape.
Hence, the architectural project was oriented towards its maintenance, like a second exterior skin of the new building. However, such preservation entailed great technical complexity: firstly, due to its evident physical deterioration; and secondly, due to its strange level, which is 4m high above the perimeter streets. The technical effort was aimed at presenting the cylindrical, forceful and atypical shape.
The solution to create a new façade under the existing façade consisted of creating a large perimeter pathway of exposed reinforced concrete to which the upper weight is transmitted. Also temporarily, the entire façade rested on a circular metal crown. Once restored, it would become a kind of double skin exempt from direct contact with the new building.
A circular metal walkway would fulfill a triple function: cable stay, fire evacuation corridor and services, facilities and supply of goods.
The building has a huge central void which works as a reception hall for all the activities of the complex - commercial, recreational and leisure - from which to observe the life and effervescence of movement of the complex.
The roof of the building was another of the great challenges of technical and structural resolution, since it was separated from the rest of the building to emphasise its sense of buoyancy. We stand before one of the largest domes in Europe, with a multitude of uses and possibilities, as well as a perimeter promenade from which to enjoy the magnificent view of Barcelona, at a height of 27m and with a length of more than 300 linear metres.
A special vaulted space in the context of a city that has always lacked them, and that highlights the uniqueness of the project - always in line with the identity of Barcelona. It is also a project developed in partnership with Richard Rogers, contributing and complementing points of view to go beyond the initially set objectives.
Authors
On the Map
Constellation
Cronology
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Arenas de Barcelona Shopping Centre
Alonso i Balaguer Arquitectes Associats, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Lluís Alonso Calleja, Sergi Balaguer Barbadillo, Richard Rogers
Barcelona has always been known for having a special sensitivity and respect towards its past, but at the same time for its forceful commitment to the future and the avant-garde. Las Arenas is a clear example of this, and it reveals the confluence of both concepts: historicist architectural respect and technological commitment. The old bullring, in disuse since 1989, had become a symbol after more than a century; not so much for its architectural value as for being part of the city’s landscape. Hence, the architectural project was oriented towards its maintenance, like a second exterior skin of the new building. However, such preservation entailed great technical complexity: firstly, due to its evident physical deterioration; and secondly, due to its strange level, which is 4m high above the perimeter streets. The technical effort was aimed at presenting the cylindrical, forceful and atypical shape. The solution to create a new façade under the existing façade consisted of creating a large perimeter pathway of exposed reinforced concrete to which the upper weight is transmitted. Also temporarily, the entire façade rested on a circular metal crown. Once restored, it would become a kind of double skin exempt from direct contact with the new building. A circular metal walkway would fulfill a triple function: cable stay, fire evacuation corridor and services, facilities and supply of goods. The building has a huge central void which works as a reception hall for all the activities of the complex - commercial, recreational and leisure - from which to observe the life and effervescence of movement of the complex. The roof of the building was another of the great challenges of technical and structural resolution, since it was separated from the rest of the building to emphasise its sense of buoyancy. We stand before one of the largest domes in Europe, with a multitude of uses and possibilities, as well as a perimeter promenade from which to enjoy the magnificent view of Barcelona, at a height of 27m and with a length of more than 300 linear metres. A special vaulted space in the context of a city that has always lacked them, and that highlights the uniqueness of the project - always in line with the identity of Barcelona. It is also a project developed in partnership with Richard Rogers, contributing and complementing points of view to go beyond the initially set objectives.
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