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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Historical Archive which, thanks to its documental richness, provides a large amount of valuable –and in some cases unpublished– graphic documentation.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:
2019-2024 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
Torre de l’Aigua is a modernist water tank considered one of the emblematic symbols of the city. It is located in the eastern area, almost touching the bank of the Ripoll river. Between 1922 and 1967 it served as a water tank.
It is a reinforced concrete tower - one of the first works in this material done in Sabadell. Its composition based on gravel, sand and water, along with some steel bars, made it possible to build a slender structure that could support the tank. Its architectural aspect is linked to the German tradition of this type of building.
The structural body is made up of eight pillars with their capitals and cornice, arranged in the form of a truncated pyramid and connected to each other by a spiral staircase. At the top there is the reservoir and the viewpoint. This is made up of eight balconies with iron railings. The tank is insulated with a double wall and air chamber, with five rectangular openings under each balcony to illuminate the tank and ventilate the air chamber. Although it has an octagonal shape on the outside, the inside is circular to avoid water pressure in the corners. The building is crowned by a dome formed by eight inclined faces.
Its capacity is 293.5 m3.
In June 1915, faced with the problem of the city's water supply, a project and construction of a storage tower was put out to tender, with detailed guidelines by Francesc Izard, but which left freedom in terms of materials and shape. Four projects were presented, the winner being Lluís Homs.
In February 1916, the works began under the direction of Josep Renom i Costa as municipal architect. The cost of the work was 104,422,70 pesetas. It was inaugurated in August 1918 with the assistance of the authorities, but it did not become operational until 1922.
The tower has undergone a progressive process of abandonment, up to a point it is now completely disused. It is owned by the City Council, which has left it to the franchise company (since 1949 with a 99-year license).
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