From 19 July you can visit the seventh exhibition in the 'Collections' series of COAC’s Historical Archive, which commemorates 130 years since this key event in Barcelona's history and features a large selection of documents.

130 years ago, the city of Barcelona, which had thrown down its walls and expanded across the plain thanks to the adoption of Ildefons Cerdà’s urban plan, was ready to take another step forward with the organisation of the Universal Exposition of 1888.

Through the Exposition, Barcelona showcased its dynamism, the drive of its middle classes, supported by a powerful industrial sector, and the ability to generate forward-looking projects for large tracts of society at that time.

In the sphere of architecture, it is worth highlighting the generalised use of iron—which previously had been used in the construction of bridges, railway stations and markets—and the as-yet early emergence of the Catalan Art Nouveau style (classified as proto-Modernisme) that could be perceived in some buildings.

The Universal Exposition of 1888 was the first project to generate changes at many levels of the city, and was followed by similar impacts from the International Exposition of 1929 and the organisation of the Olympic Games in 1992.

The plans on display are from the collection of Elias Rogent Amat, the architect who directed work at the Universal Exposition, and were donated by his family to the COAC’s Historical Archive in 1969. The exhibition also features documents from the photography collections of the COAC’s Historical Archive.

To properly conserve the documents, they have been copied and reproduced as facsimiles so that now, 130 years later, they can be viewed without any risk of damage.


With the support of: