Exhibition "Gaudí's Invisible Garden"
The modernist gardens of the former Sant Boi de Llobregat asylum, built between 1903 and 1912, and forgotten for more than 100 years by historiography, contain architecture that anticipates or is contemporary with Gaudí’s last great works, thus formalizing the hyperbolic structures of the Sagrada Família (1915-1921), the serpentine bench of Park Güell (1910-1914), formal aspects of Casa Milà (1906-1912) and architectural compositions of the Güell colony (1908-1914) and Casa Batlló (1904-1906).
This construction, which had no determined authorship for more than a century, was built with the participation, as laborers, of the patients of the hospital center. This garden, full of symbolism from the text of the Apocalypse of Saint John, and dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes, is in tune with the architectural and spiritual universe of Antoni Gaudí. The thought of Jacint Verdaguer, personally and ideologically linked to Gaudí, is also present in this enigmatic space.
The exhibition “The Invisible Garden of Gaudí” has been curated by the architect David Agulló Galilea. He is the author of the doctoral thesis, directed by the architect Juan José Lahuerta, “Gaudí and the Gardens of the Old Asylum of Sant Boi de Llobregat”, where he argues and makes it clear that this modernist garden is an unpublished work by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí.
David Agulló Galilea, PhD in architecture from ETSAB. Author of the doctoral thesis “Gaudí and the gardens of the old asylum of Sant Boi de Llobregat”, qualified with a Cum Laude. Works in the field of rehabilitation, housing, and museography collaborating for the company Quod i Enginyeria Cultural in the following projects: Museum of the History of Catalonia, House of the History of the Archaeological Park of Elviña, and the Center for Interpretation of Al-Andalus, in San Fernando. Currently directing, together with Josep Pratdesaba, Vicenç Font and Anicet Matamala, the restoration of the modernist complex of the old psychiatric hospital of Sant Boi de Llobregat.
The exhibition “The Invisible Garden of Gaudí” was shown during the period June 2024-June 2025 at the MNACTEC museum in Terrassa.
Inauguration on October 2, at 7:30 p.m., in the COAC Tarragona auditorium.
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Exhibition 'Cities Connection Project · Architectures in transition'
This edition of 'Cities Connection Project · Architectures in transition' connects Metropolitan Barcelona with the European regions of Wallonia-Brussels, Luxembourg and Gran Est, expanding the network of professionals and institutions involved. The reuse of built heritage and social responsibility are the common points of the 60 projects on display, showing different approaches and processes tested by architects from heterogeneous contexts.
Climate change and new sustainability policies are increasingly having an impact on architectural practice, which is considered from a more ethical position with respect to the natural environment. Prioritization of rehabilitation over demolition, sustainable and environmentally friendly construction systems, as well as the normalization of an architecture attentive to the circular economy, with the reuse of materials, indicate that both the architect and the rest of the agents involved are beginning to become aware as socially responsible actors.
This CCP07 edition shows a series of architectural projects in transition, basically of public promotion and of a high quality, which favor the reuse of existing spaces, the intelligent use of constructive systems and durable materials, buildings with more energy efficiency, as well as mixed programs that contribute to the grouping of activities and the interaction between users. In short, projects that show a transition towards a more ethical architecture with less environmental impact, a long process full of obstacles, but irreversible, after all.
The exhibition can be seen from February 20 to April 11, in the COAC Tarragona exhibition hall. Within the programming of the 'Cities Connection Project · Architectures in transition' we will have the opportunity to enjoy three conferences:
20/02 · 7:30 p.m | h3o architects + Thomas Weckerle
13/03 · 7:30 p.m | Maira arquitectes + Ballast architectes
10/04 · 7:30 p.m | NUA arquitectures + HAZ arquitectura
The organization reserves the right to modify the content of this program.
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Mirades: Terra. Ctonia
The exhibition, with the title Ctonia, is the second of the MIRADES Cycle in Tarragona, dedicated this year to the sand, it integrates fourteen images by the photographer Lluc Queralt, and offers a new look at this natural element.
The title of the project refers to how they called ancient Greece in the Hellenic era on earth, Demeter, the Greek goddess was called "the one of the underground". The exhibition presented has a direct relationship with Demeter and the artia, a piece of land, previously covered with forest, which is prepared for cultivation, removing the trees and burning the brush which is then spread so that the ashes serve as fertilizer. The burnt garrigue, then, creates a mosaic of black tones that travels parallel to the trencadís that has been made up of fourteen images revealed in glass and with natural pigment showing a set of textures where this nature works as encrypted scores.
The elements of glass, silica sand, sodium carbonate, limestone dolomite and flourite melted at 1400 degrees and the inks used are 98% natural coal and originate the images I present nurtured and "painted" by a heterogeneous subsoil and degraded.
Lluc Queralt
Photographer and visual artist who started in photography in the mid-nineties. He is a senior technician in artistic photography from the School of Art and Design of Tarragona. A tireless traveler, he has made reports in numerous countries: Palestine, Syria, Bosnia, Greece or the United States... but also in Nordic lands such as Iceland, a country where he keeps returning, painting and exhibiting. He has also maintained a remarkable career as a visual artist producing collages that combine references from academia and scientific or technical drawing with inventions and war machines.
In 2017, he won the second edition of the Painting Competition organized by the Catalan Mutual Private Foundation. Prize-winning work in the Absolut Portfolios photo contest.
Mirades
The MIRADES series of exhibitions is a cultural initiative that weaves together the entire territory in a collaborative way, highlighting local heritage through the observation of the four elements of nature: water, sand, fire and air. Each of the elements will be the reason for an annual exhibition, completing the series in four years and increasing the legacy of the historical archive of the College of Architects with the donation of the photographic records that will build the exhibitions. In this way, from a local point of view, we will share and debate global commitments.
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Exposició 'Concurs de projectes de la nova Biblioteca de Banyoles'
La mostra, que compta amb la col·laboració de la Demarcació de Girona del COAC, està ubicada davant l'edifici que albergarà la futura nova biblioteca, l'antic convent de La Providència, al parc de la Muralla.