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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.
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.
Located in the Rec area, in the southern part of Igualada, this winery consists of a rectangular building facing south and aligned longitudinally on Carrer de Joan Abad, where the main door is located, and a room with the reception dock and hoppers on the north side of the building, which is higher. The oil press is located next to the engine room.
The warehouse and the room are connected by three semicircular arches with stepped bases supported by square pillars, all made of whitewashed brick. In the basement there are parabolic arches.
The nave is covered by a gabled roof on wooden trusses. The vats are arranged in two parallel rows flush with the longitudinal walls and separated by a wide passageway where the openings of the underground wine presses are located.
The main façade, simpler than Martinell's other wineries but with a similar design, is organised into three overlapping areas: the lower area consists of a stone plinth, where small ventilation windows open onto the basement, topped by a sawtooth brick frieze; the middle section, which is blind, is made of masonry; the upper section consists of a series of triple-arched windows, with a round central arch and rampant side arches, above a continuous impost line and lobed drip moulding. The entrance door, with a semicircular arch, is framed by rows of bricks, with a stepped intrados and extrados; the upper part is crowned by a powerful sawtooth brick dust sheet.
The façade is topped by a moulded cornice with tiles and dentils.
Compared to other cooperative wineries, this one is somewhat poor in terms of both construction and ornamentation, if these two concepts can be separated in César Martinell's architecture. Of particular note are the catenary arches in the cellar, as well as the arches separating the mill from the vats, which have a very typical support structure in César Martinell's designs. Brick is the basic element with which César Martinell, with great skill, carries out almost all his work.
In 1918, the Igualada Agricultural Cooperative was founded with the aim of joining forces to purchase products for the countryside and for future use without having to go through intermediaries. By 1919, it already owned land between Portal and Joan Abat streets to build a winery, but only a straw warehouse was ever built.
In 1921, another entity, the Winegrowers' Union, carried out the construction of a winery on the aforementioned land, ceded by the Cooperative. Both institutions – the Cooperative and the Union – merged in 1922.
In 1921, the winery was already built, and in 1927, an oil mill with a press was installed.
After the Spanish Civil War, the union became the Farmers and Ranchers Union Brotherhood.