Intro

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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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.

Aureli Mora i Omar Ornaque
Directors arquitecturacatalana.cat

credits

About us

Project by:

Created by:

Directors:

2019-2024 Aureli Mora i Omar Ornaque

Documental Commission:

2019-2024 Ramon Faura Carolina B. Garcia Eduard Callís Francesc Rafat Pau Albert Antoni López Daufí Joan Falgueras Mercè Bosch Jaume Farreny Anton Pàmies Juan Manuel Zaguirre Josep Ferrando Fernando Marzá Moisés Puente Aureli Mora Omar Ornaque

Collaborators:

2019-2024 Lluis Andreu Sergi Ballester Maria Jesús Quintero Lucía M. Villodres Montse Viu

External Collaborators:

2019-2024 Helena Cepeda Inès Martinel

With the support of:

Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Cultura

Collaborating Entities:

ArquinFAD

 

Fundació Mies van der Rohe

 

Fundación DOCOMOMO Ibérico

 

Basílica de la Sagrada Família

 

Museu del Disseny de Barcelona

 

Fomento

 

AMB

 

EINA Centre Universitari de Disseny i Art de Barcelona

 

IEFC

 

Fundació Domènench Montaner.

Design & Development:

edittio Nubilum
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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.

Detail:

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Informació bàsica de protecció de dades

Responsable del tractament: Col·legi d Arquitectes de Catalunya 'COAC'
Finalitat del tractament: Tramitar la sol·licitud de còpies digitals dels documents dels quals l’Arxiu Històric del COAC gestiona els drets d'explotació dels autors, a més d'aquells que es trobin en domini públic.
Legitimació del tractament: El seu consentiment per tractar les seves dades personals.
Destinatari de cessions o transferències: El COAC no realitza cessions o transferències internacionals de dades personals.
Drets de les persones interessades: Accedir, rectificar i suprimir les seves dades, així com, l’exercici d’altres drets conforme a l’establert a la informació addicional.
Informació addicional: Pot consultar la informació addicional i detallada sobre protecció de dades en aquest enllaç

How to get there

In Pictures

Memory

The attic area of "La Pedrera" was, in addition to being a deposit of useless junk, filled with rats when they commissioned me to study a solution that would allow it to be incorporated into the useful and profitable part of the building.

The structure is simple and interesting. The roof rests directly on partition parabolic arches which are about 80cm apart and whose nails are linked by brick ribs that follow catenary guidelines.

The approach was logical: rings of passage around the large central patios provide access to the various units, which take advantage of the height of the undulating ceilings by means of mezzanines forming "duplexes".

Main idea.
The main drawing board has been the floor of the ground plan, with a firm intention of defending "architectural honesty both in the structure and in the materials", valuing a solution for its simplicity, even at the cost of the perfection of the finish. I have clung to this idea to flee from the decorative and baroque styles that have attacked me, as is logical, in an exuberant environment of shapes, discarding the use of manufactured materials in industries that our country does not have.

Materials.
All of them have been simple materials, even elementary. Essays with raw common brick, refractories of various kinds, ceramics, stones, Galician pine in some coating… In kitchen and bathroom veneers, after some trials in glazing, I have returned to tile, a material with great possibilities, which I have treated in groups of 3 or 4 colours per piece. I believe that the greatest success achieved has been with earthy materials, particularly with refractories because of its hot and vibrant quality.

Shapes.
These are the result of working in an organic environment with no other forced base than the clean structure, free from the prison of the grid and the 90-degree angle, a logical consequence of industrial standardization, or the use of load-bearing walls, but without justification in structural projects. Open spaces that allow us to conceive a world that is freer and closer to nature that was not created in a grid. I have come to the conclusion that we must take advantage, even in the state of our industry, to allow ourselves certain design liberties that would not be acceptable in more advanced countries, and which allow us to achieve a more humane and attractive architecture.

Ground plan management law.
The goal is to make life easier with the minimum effort and the maximum sensation of well-being, looking for minimum distances when traveling and adapting the closing lines of the environments whose enclosures are repeatedly floating in plan and elevation to these layouts.
Studying the perspectives from the fundamental areas: sleeping, eating and being.

Standardisation.
It is impossible to normalise anything other than the fundamental idea; I have been able to create a "standard" element that regulates the functions between the little kitchen and the sleeping area, a large polychrome wardrobe that has simplified the work greatly.

Colour.
As Mediterranean people with red blood in our veins and a blue sea in our landscapes, we cannot see life in black and white; colour is our fourth dimension in Architecture.
Essays of contrasting polychromies, ranges of colours of the same order and neutral backgrounds with polychrome parts. The type of paint used is glue; in my opinion, it is the one that gives the best quality.

Furniture.
It has been necessary to invent all the furniture, due to not finding anything decent on the market. We have had to even invent the Saarinen armchair, already invented.
As an experience, a chair with a continuous back and seat and a group inspired by the Moorish "pouf" in the last apartment that reflects the experiences of all the others and in which I have tried to respect "architectural honesty" as much as possible, both in shapes and materials.

Conclusion.
After living "La Pedrera" daily for more than a year, I have met Gaudí, a true master of our bravest functional architecture.

“La Pedrera” began in 1905, when Gaudí was 53 years old, for the couple from Barcelona Mr. and Mrs. Milá, ending in 1910. It is one of the most important works, apart from the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia, by the great architect.

Author: Francisco Juan Barba Corsini

Source: Cuadernos de Arquitectura, núm. 22

Authors

How to get there

On the Map

Awarded
Cataloged
Disappeared
All works

Constellation

Chronology (6)

  1. Milà House

    Antoni Gaudí i Cornet

    Milà House

    This is Gaudí’s latest civil work, in which he places full emphasis on the experimentation with the structure and opts for risky and well-differentiated solutions from traditional procedures. The load-bearing straight feet are made of limestone from Garraf, combined with metallic elements, and are dimensioned and configured according to the casuistry of their specific position. The slabs are made of metal beams, which follow an irregular order according to the configuration of the floor. The façades on the street merge with the perimeter pillars in a monolithic and self-supporting system. Gaudí proposes to detach the forms from their material content and to look for a synthesis between the abstraction and the evocation of the elements of nature. This led him to turn the building into a large monument dedicated to the Virgin, which was to crown the house as if it were just a pedestal. The help of a naval engineer or the shapes suggested on the deck reveal a Gaudí forerunner of modern architecture, interested in freeing himself from the rows of masonry, orders or the weight of building materials. The Pedrera is a completely unfinished work that solves every spatial and constructive challenge through unpublished and sometimes incomprehensible solutions.
  2. New Apartments in the Penthouse of Casa Milà

    Francisco Juan Barba Corsini

    New Apartments in the Penthouse of Casa Milà

    The attic area of "La Pedrera" was, in addition to being a deposit of useless junk, filled with rats when they commissioned me to study a solution that would allow it to be incorporated into the useful and profitable part of the building. The structure is simple and interesting. The roof rests directly on partition parabolic arches which are about 80cm apart and whose nails are linked by brick ribs that follow catenary guidelines. The approach was logical: rings of passage around the large central patios provide access to the various units, which take advantage of the height of the undulating ceilings by means of mezzanines forming "duplexes". Main idea. The main drawing board has been the floor of the ground plan, with a firm intention of defending "architectural honesty both in the structure and in the materials", valuing a solution for its simplicity, even at the cost of the perfection of the finish. I have clung to this idea to flee from the decorative and baroque styles that have attacked me, as is logical, in an exuberant environment of shapes, discarding the use of manufactured materials in industries that our country does not have. Materials. All of them have been simple materials, even elementary. Essays with raw common brick, refractories of various kinds, ceramics, stones, Galician pine in some coating… In kitchen and bathroom veneers, after some trials in glazing, I have returned to tile, a material with great possibilities, which I have treated in groups of 3 or 4 colours per piece. I believe that the greatest success achieved has been with earthy materials, particularly with refractories because of its hot and vibrant quality. Shapes. These are the result of working in an organic environment with no other forced base than the clean structure, free from the prison of the grid and the 90-degree angle, a logical consequence of industrial standardization, or the use of load-bearing walls, but without justification in structural projects. Open spaces that allow us to conceive a world that is freer and closer to nature that was not created in a grid. I have come to the conclusion that we must take advantage, even in the state of our industry, to allow ourselves certain design liberties that would not be acceptable in more advanced countries, and which allow us to achieve a more humane and attractive architecture. Ground plan management law. The goal is to make life easier with the minimum effort and the maximum sensation of well-being, looking for minimum distances when traveling and adapting the closing lines of the environments whose enclosures are repeatedly floating in plan and elevation to these layouts. Studying the perspectives from the fundamental areas: sleeping, eating and being. Standardisation. It is impossible to normalise anything other than the fundamental idea; I have been able to create a "standard" element that regulates the functions between the little kitchen and the sleeping area, a large polychrome wardrobe that has simplified the work greatly. Colour. As Mediterranean people with red blood in our veins and a blue sea in our landscapes, we cannot see life in black and white; colour is our fourth dimension in Architecture. Essays of contrasting polychromies, ranges of colours of the same order and neutral backgrounds with polychrome parts. The type of paint used is glue; in my opinion, it is the one that gives the best quality. Furniture. It has been necessary to invent all the furniture, due to not finding anything decent on the market. We have had to even invent the Saarinen armchair, already invented. As an experience, a chair with a continuous back and seat and a group inspired by the Moorish "pouf" in the last apartment that reflects the experiences of all the others and in which I have tried to respect "architectural honesty" as much as possible, both in shapes and materials. Conclusion. After living "La Pedrera" daily for more than a year, I have met Gaudí, a true master of our bravest functional architecture. “La Pedrera” began in 1905, when Gaudí was 53 years old, for the couple from Barcelona Mr. and Mrs. Milá, ending in 1910. It is one of the most important works, apart from the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia, by the great architect.
  3. FAD Award

    Award-Winner / Winner. Category: Intervencions Efímeres
    Acció-Exposició: "Vers Un Nou Equilibri Natural..."

    Toni Gironès i Saderra

  4. 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

    Auditorium and Gaudí Hall  at Milà House

    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.

Archive

  • Esbossos i detalls de la decoració interior dels Nous Apartaments a les Golfes de la Casa Milà.

    Drawing

    Esbossos i detalls de la decoració interior dels Nous Apartaments a les Golfes de la Casa Milà.

    Arxiu Històric del COAC

Audiovisual

  • Objectes Enllaçats | Joaquim Ruiz Millet i la cadira Pedrera de Francisco Juan Barba Corsini

    2:15

    Objectes Enllaçats | Joaquim Ruiz Millet i la cadira Pedrera de Francisco Juan Barba Corsini

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