The exhibition “Pedagogies transhistòriques”(Transhistorical Pedagogies), organised by the ETSAB of the Universitat Politècncia de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Open Centre for Architecture of the Official Association of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) in Barcelona, is curated by ETSAB professors and assistant directors Enric Granell and Carolina Garcia, together with Andrea Palomino. Hosted at the COAC’s Picasso Room, it will run until 21 September. Conceived as a constellation of nine thematic units and four historical showcases, the exhibition “captures a suspended time, counter to the false idea of linear progress, and committed to a cyclical vision of the institution and its knowledge,” explains curator Enric Granell. “It offers a journey through one of the finest archives of architectural education from the past two centuries,” he adds.

The exhibition unfolds through documents that preserve the memory of generations of professors and students, from Antoni Gaudí to Enric Miralles, alongside collections held by the ETSAB Archive · Gaudí Chair, which span from 18th-century surveyor’s maps (1751–1904) and the first architecture class exercises taught by Antoni Celles at the Free School of Fine Arts and Crafts at La Llotja in 1817, to the living legacy of master builder projects from 1850 to 1871. On display are original documents by major architects including Gaudí, Miralles, Jujol and Moneo, together with final-year projects, unpublished plans, hand drawings, models, photographs, artistic reproductions, glass plates, books, magazines and School publications that defined their era. Each piece, in Granell’s words, “acts as a symptom of its time”.

Highlights include Gaudí’s drawings for his graduation exam on the Paranimf of the University of Barcelona (1878), as well as his design for the gate and fence of the Graner chalet in Sarrià; Josep Maria Jujol’s lyrical, symbol-rich thermal baths project (1906); and the study trips of Domènech i Montaner and Elies Rogent to medieval monuments, which combined study, drawing and photography. Also featured are drawings by Jujol and Santiago Roquetas’s complete survey of La Rambla. Other notable pieces include Esteve Terradas’s projects from 1949; Antoni Puig Giralt’s unbuilt proposal for the Portbou international station (1917); the controversial final-year project by Enric Miralles and Macià Codinachs to refurbish a house in Barcelona’s Clota neighbourhood; and José Ros Ros’s 1907–1908 plan for a Universal Exhibition in Barcelona.

The exhibition also showcases photographs of architects such as Hans Hollein, Josep Lluís Sert, Álvaro Siza, James Stirling, Rafael Moneo, Nuno Portas, Manuel de Solà-Morales, Josep Antoni Coderch and Oriol Bohigas, along with images of Carles Santos’s performance at the inauguration of the ETSAB’s extension in 1985.

The show positions the ETSAB as an ecosystem where classical traditions, modern ruptures and contemporary explorations intersect, from romantic and academicist beginnings to postmodern experiments and critical readings of the city and the region. It is also a tribute to all the generations who have passed through the School: from the first four students enrolled in 1875 to today’s thousands of students and professors, including Margarita Brender Rubira, the first woman to graduate in architecture in Barcelona in 1962.

From its origins to the present day
On 5 October 1875, after lengthy negotiations in Madrid, Elies Rogent was appointed director of the newly created Barcelona Provincial School of Architecture. For a short time, the institution brought together the studies of Fine Arts, Master Builders and the embryo of what would become the School of Architecture. From then until 1966, Madrid and Barcelona remained the only centres of architectural education in Spain. In the early 1960s, the School left its old home in the Central University and moved to its current premises on Avinguda Diagonal.

Following the extension designed by Josep Antoni Coderch in 1984, the building continues to house not only the School’s degree programmes but also one of the finest archives on architectural education from the last two centuries, with a historical collection of 180,000 documents, including plans, drawings, artistic reproductions, glass plates, videos, photographs and lectures.

With more than 3,000 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree students and 300 faculty members, the ETSAB graduates around 500 architects each year. It remains a driving force in the design and development of Barcelona, and a constant voice in the city’s debates. The School has trained some of the most celebrated architects, including Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Josep Maria Jujol, Josep Lluís Sert, Oriol Bohigas, Josep Antoni Coderch, Manuel de Solà-Morales, Ricardo Bofill, Óscar Tusquets, Beth Galí, Alfons Milà, Enric Miralles, Carme Pinós and Carles Ferrater.

For ETSAB director Félix Solaguren-Beascoa, the School “is much more than a place to study architecture: it is a living space for thought, debate and creation, one that has evolved with the challenges of its time while also helping to shape Barcelona with milestones such as the Universal Exhibitions of 1888 and 1929 and the 1992 Olympic Games. After 150 years, the real challenge is to continue serving society at a time of accelerated global change, from which architecture cannot stand apart. Our mission is to train professionals who understand that to design is also to take a stance on the world, and that architecture becomes a true tool for transformation when it serves people.”