The COAC loans more than 50 documents for an exhibition on mediterranean architecture at the ICO Museum
The COAC's Archive has loaned more than fifty documents for the exhibition “Imaginando la casa mediterránea. Italia y España en los años 50” (Imagining the Mediterranean house: Italy and Spain in the 1950s), which can be visited at the ICO Museum from 2 October. The exhibition comprises a collection of photographs, plans, drawings and other original documents that show the development of architecture on the Mediterranean coast, featuring autochthonous values at a time when Spain and Italy were becoming artistically attuned.
The COAC’s Historical Archive has loaned 11 original documents for the exhibition, including a photograph by Deidi von Schaewen, an original contact sheet by Català-Roca, three plans by Correa i Milà and Harnden and Bombelli, three original drawings by Correa i Milà, and two perspectives by Harnden and Bombelli. It has also loaned 38 photographs by Català-Roca, Maspons and Ubiña.
Architectural innovation with Mediterranean values
The exhibition, curated by Antonio Pizza, shows the influence that Spanish and Italian architecture brought to bear on each other in the 1950s. The Italians Gio Ponti and Alberto Sartoris introduced innovations into Spanish architecture along with Austrian architect Bernard Rudofsky, all of whom upheld the value of Mediterranean culture as a source of constructive modernisation. They shared an interest in the environment and a desire to recover past architectural traditions, merging the landscape into their projects.
The COAC had already collaborated recently with the ICO Museum when it lent around thirty documents for the exhibition ‘Fernando Higueras: Desde el origen’ (Fernando Higueras: From the Origin). The Archive, which boasts more than 2,000,000 documents, loans documents for exhibitions and shows with the aim of showcasing the architects who form part of its collections and their work.
Exhibition: "50 Years of the Historical Archive"
On 7 October, on the same date as World Architecture Day and as part of the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of our Historical Archive, the COAC is inaugurating the exhibition entitled “50 anys de l'Arxiu Històric" (50 Years of the Historical Archive), which will occupy the Mezzanine and the Espai Picasso until 6 January 2020.
This is a large-format exhibition that brings together the work of around one hundred architects, offering a unique opportunity to view some of the Archive's most iconic pieces in a single space, providing an explanation of the history of architecture in our country.
Rogent, Domènech i Montaner, Jujol, Masó, Bonet Castellana, Solà-Morales, Higueras, MBM among others. The exhibition will look back on the trajectories of around 90 architects, from Fray Bonaventura Monet in 1737, to the RCR, and will showcase some unique works such as the Diorama of the Pla Macià, the University of Barcelona, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Coliseum, the Ciutat de Repòs i Vacances holiday resort in Tarragona, the Jaume Vicens Vives Institute in Girona, the Il Giardinetto restaurant, and many others.
Guided tours of the exhibition
On 14, 21 and 28 October, at 16:00, we are arranging guided tours of the exhibition led by the COAC’s archive manager, Andreu Carrascal. Prior registration is required.
Sign up for the tour on 14 October
Sign up for the tour on 21 October
Sign up for the tour on 28 October
National Culture Award
The fiftieth anniversary of the Archive also coincides with the National Culture Award which this year has been given to the COAC by the CoNCA for its work in upholding our architectural and heritage values across Catalonia and, more specifically, for the work carried out by the Archive.
Sponsored by:
With the collaboration of:
Let’s celebrate together!
On 7 October, from 7 pm, coinciding with World Architecture Day, we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Historical Archive with a party where we will open a large-format exhibition to commemorate this red-letter day.
Presenter Oscar Dalmau, a regular user of the Archive, will lead the event, which will look back over its origins, evolution and future challenges, alongside other presentations that will be given by several different institutions. We are also inviting the families who, having donating their collections, have played a decisive role in helping the Archive to grow.
Come along to the party!
50 years in 130 drawings on display
On the same day we will be inaugurating '50 Years of the Historical Archive' , a large-format exhibition that can be visited in the Mezzanine and Espai Picasso at the COAC headquarters in Barcelona, offering a unique opportunity to view some of the most iconic pieces in the Archive’s collection. To give people a greater insight into these pieces, we are organising guided tours for which prior registration will be necessary.
National Culture Award
The celebration also coincides with the National Culture Award granted to the COAC in 2019. The award was given by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CoNCA) in recognition of the COAC’s role in upholding our architectural and heritage values across Catalonia and, more specifically, for the work carried out by the Archive, which has now become a key documentation centre for architects and historians that “celebrates Catalan architecture".
Since 1969, the Archive has been responsible for recovering the documentary heritage generated by architects and the world of architecture. It safeguards the collections of more than 150 architects from across Catalonia, resulting mainly from donations, which have helped develop Archive over the years and made it one of Europe's most important documentation centres, with more than 2,000,000 documents – including plans, maps, sketches, drawings, publications, photographs, correspondence and audiovisual files. It has become a point of reference for researchers and a repository for our members.
#ArxiuCOAC50 on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
From 7 September to 7 October, our Instagram account @coacarxiu, using the hashtag #ArxiuCOAC50, will be paying homage to the most significant collections in the Historical Archive by posting some of the drawings in the exhibition.
On Twitter and Facebook, the sections #JuevesdeArquitectura (Architecture Thursday) and #LecturesRecomanades (Recommended reading) are also joining the celebrations with some specific threads on Modernism, Noucentisme, GATCPAC and Grup R through our collections.
Sponsored by:
With the collaboration of:
Pre-Biennial Event: Lecture by Gilles Clément
This is the first event that we organize ahead of the 11th Barcelona Landscape Biennial, which will take place in September 2020.
Clément defends the observation of a landscape which is not fixed. The nature invades and it organizes a creation, without "fitting" the species and accepting the movement and changes, nothing permanent in the concept of garden All these landscape interpretations and other concepts such as agitation (mixing of species) or planetarization (integration of globalization) are reflected in their books such as "Le Jardin en mouvement", "Le Jardin planétaire" and "The third landscape manifest".
Save the date: next Thursday, 3rd of October at 19.00 h.
Registration form.
Co-organized by:
