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.