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Documentation Fonds

The Temple of the Sagrada Família Archive, predecessor to the current Documentation Centre, was created by Antoni Gaudí’s disciples to house all the documents and plaster fragments that were saved from destruction during the Spanish Civil War and were to be used as reference to continue the architect’s unfinished masterpiece.

Today, the Documentation Centre manages the bibliographical and documentary archives of the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation to preserve and share documentary heritage related to the Temple and, by extension, the life and work of its architect, Antoni Gaudí.

This Sagrada Família Documentation Centre Guide aims to provide exhaustive, systematic information on the documentary archives it houses and serve as a tool for studying, understanding and sharing them.

The Temple of the Sagrada Família Archive, predecessor to the current Documentation Centre, was created by Antoni Gaudí’s disciples to house all the documents and plaster fragments that were saved from destruction during the Spanish Civil War and were to be used as reference to continue the architect’s unfinished masterpiece.

Today, the Documentation Centre manages the bibliographical and documentary archives of the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation to preserve and share documentary heritage related to the Temple and, by extension, the life and work of its architect, Antoni Gaudí.

This Sagrada Família Documentation Centre Guide aims to provide exhaustive, systematic information on the documentary archives it houses and serve as a tool for studying, understanding and sharing them.

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Índex fons

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Bibliographical archives

Bibliographical archives

Bibliographical archives

Research works or creative works that are handwritten, printed or reproduced in any format. [Source: Law No. 9/1993 of the Catalan Cultural Heritage].

Research works or creative works that are handwritten, printed or reproduced in any format. [Source: Law No. 9/1993 of the Catalan Cultural Heritage].

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Library

Library

Library

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Dates: 1857-present | Number and formats: 2,450 titles - paper and electronic

Scope and content

Grouping of research works or creative works that are handwritten, printed or reproduced in any format that make up the Sagrada Família Documentation Centre library.

It contains a huge selection of works that help provide context for the life and work of the architect. The works are about the life and work of architect Antoni Gaudí and other topics such as religion, architecture, Modernisme, decorative arts, sculpture and painting.

Noteworthy pieces include volumes on Gaudí and his work by Isidre Puig Boada (1929), Josep F. Ràfols (1929), Joan Bergós (1954), Cèsar Martinell (1952) and Joan Maragall (1961).

Also noteworthy are some of the books from Gaudí’s personal library, including L’année liturgique by Dom Guéranger, Any cristià and the Roman Missal, for religious reasons, and Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVI siècle by Viollet-le-Duc, for architectural reasons.

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Periodicals archive

Periodicals archive

Periodicals archive

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Dates: 1871-present | Number and formats: 79,454 - paper and electronic

Scope and content

It includes press clippings and articles published in newspapers, journals and other periodicals from 1871 to the present, on topics related to the life and work of Antoni Gaudí and/or the Foundation’s activities.

These include news articles from the first years of construction of the Temple and pieces published in June 1926 about Antoni Gaudí’s death. Also noteworthy are the news stories about significant events that took place while the Temple was being built and their impact on the Church, society and culture.

The periodicals archive also has articles published in the magazines El Propagador de la devoción a San José, Templo (1948-1980) and Temple (1981 - present) about construction of the Sagrada Família and the work of Antoni Gaudí.

 

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Documentary archives

Organic grouping of documents compiled as a result of a natural process that have been created or received by an individual or legal entity, public or private, over the course of their life and in exercising their activities and functions.

[Source: Law 10/2001, on archives and document management].

Organic grouping of documents compiled as a result of a natural process that have been created or received by an individual or legal entity, public or private, over the course of their life and in exercising their activities and functions.

[Source: Law 10/2001, on archives and document management].

intro fons documental

Organic grouping of documents compiled as a result of a natural process that have been created or received by an individual or legal entity, public or private, over the course of their life and in exercising their activities and functions. 

Organic grouping of documents compiled as a result of a natural process that have been created or received by an individual or legal entity, public or private, over the course of their life and in exercising their activities and functions. 

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Administrative archives

Administrative archives

Administrative archives

Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família

Dates: 1866-present | Number and formats: 53.8 linear metres (439 box files, 129 project binders and 185 issues of El Propagador de la devoción a San José / Templo / Temple) - paper and electronic

Creator’s name

Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (1866-1895)

Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família Foundation (1895-present)

Creator’s background

Josep Maria Bocabella i Verdaguer, a book merchant who ran the religious bookshop Hereus de la Vídua Pla, founded the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José in 1866 to foster devotion to Saint Joseph and Christian family values.

With this goal in mind, in 1866 the Association began publishing a magazine called El Propagador de la devoción a San José and distributed it to encourage donations for the construction of a temple dedicated to the Holy Family.

With the funds raised, in 1881 Bocabella was able to purchase a plot of land in El Poblet, in the former town of Sant Martí de Provençals.

Works on the Temple began on 19 March 1882, according to the designs of architect Francisco de Paula del Villar i Carmona.

In 1883, Villar stepped down over differences of opinion with Josep Maria Bocabella, and architect Antoni Gaudí i Cornet took over.

Gaudí was named head architect of the Temple on 3 November 1883 and found a fully drafted project and works already under way: the foundation of the crypt had already been laid and the columns were half built.

In 1895, to more efficiently manage funds and ensure the works would be executed after Josep Maria Bocabella died in 1892 and his son-in-law Manuel de Dalmases in 1893, the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família was established to carry on the task the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José had started.

Today, the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation is a private, non-profit, autonomous canonical foundation. Its purpose is to build, preserve and restore the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família, founded by Josep Maria Bocabella and designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Archive history

Gaudí’s disciples and former collaborators, led by architect Francesc de Paula Quintana, began compiling documents lost when architect Antoni Gaudí’s workshop burned down in 1936.

From 1990, specialised staff have joined the centre to make the documentary heritage available to Temple employees and technicians, organising, classifying and describing the archives.

Entry data

Internal archives.

Scope and content

The archives include documents of any sort and format produced or received in exercising the activity of the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José or, later, the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation.

Particularly noteworthy resources from the time of the Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José include the magazine El Propagador de la devoción a San José, which shared the association’s activities and progress on building the Temple.

Others include the Àlbums del Temple, four volumes published between 1914 and 1929, which are some of the written resources most commonly consulted and referenced in building the Temple.

The deeds for the land purchased by Josep Maria Bocabella to build the Temple and accounting documents related to managing the works budget are also kept there.

The most recent documentation, associated with the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, includes the administrative documents and files on its activity, including the founding deed, documents associated with official events, financial documents, technical documents related to the project, etc.

Also noteworthy are the letters and institutional relations with the Board of Trustees, Archdiocese of Barcelona and other ecclesiastical institutions and public administrations, particularly the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council.

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Personal and institutional archives

Personal and institutional archives

Personal and institutional archives

» Amics de Gaudí 

Dates: 1952-1992 (mainly from 1952 to 1970) | Number and formats: 5.75 linear metres (51 box files and 1 ring binder) - mainly paper 

Creator’s name 

Amics de Gaudí (1952-present) 

Creator’s background 

Amics de Gaudí was established in 1952 as a division of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Gaudí’s birth.  

After celebrating this milestone, Amics de Gaudí continued on its mission to promote Gaudí’s work, hosting and collaborating on all sorts of activities to raise awareness of Gaudí’s life and work, both in Spain and internationally, including exhibitions, conferences, films, publications, tours and also acting as a reference for scholars and people interested in Gaudí.  

The “Exposició Gaudí” exhibition held in Barcelona’s Saló del Tinell in 1956 and at the New York MoMA in late 1957 and early 1958 are two of the most important examples of Amics de Gaudí’s work.  

Amics de Gaudí also spawned other initiatives, such as the creation of a Gaudí library and periodicals archive, restoring (or recreating) the plans for Gaudí’s works or calling the public’s attention, when necessary, to the poor state of some of the Catalan architect’s buildings.  

The association also worked to rescue furniture and objects designed by Gaudí, which culminated in 1960 with promoting the purchase, partially with public funds, of the home where Gaudí lived from 1906 to late 1925, just before his death. The building, located in Park Güell and designed by one of Gaudí’s collaborators, Francesc Berenguer, was inaugurated as the Gaudí House Museum on 28 September 1963.  

From 1968, after the death of Enric Casanelles, who had been the secretary and soul of Amics de Gaudí from 1954 until he died, the association changed course and gradually ceased activity.  

In 1992, ownership of the Gaudí House Museum was transferred to the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation. 

Archive history 

From its founding in 1952, Amics de Gaudí compiled documentation on Antoni Gaudí, beyond the purely architectural and its stylistic, geographic and thematic scope, putting together an extensive bibliography. 

This archive started to take shape in 1952 when Amics de Gaudí began collecting news stories the press published on the hundredth anniversary of Gaudí’s birth, among other publications about Gaudí.  

These documents, alongside those generated by the association itself, were first stored at its headquarters, located in spaces at Palau Güell, Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5,Barcelona, on loan from the Barcelona Provincial Council.  

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the association began working to classify and categorise all its material to create a Gaudí library and periodicals archive. This initiative arose from the growing volume of documents created since 1952, which had been augmented by contributions from several important figures.  

In 1969, the Amics de Gaudí library and periodicals archive was moved to the Gaudí House Museum, although the association’s headquarters remained at Palau Güell.  

In 1992, ownership of the Gaudí House Museum was transferred to the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation along with custody of the documentary archives. 

In November 2007, work began to organise and classify the Amics de Gaudí archives, which finished in October 2010.  

In 2012, the Gaudí House Museum library and the Temple of the Sagrada Família Archive were combined.  

Scope and content 

The Amics de Gaudí archive contains documents on this association’s activities from 1952 to 1992, when the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família took over management of the Gaudí House Museum. The bulk of these documents are from 1952 to 1970, when the association was most active. After that period, the information is scarcer.  

The archive has information on the work Amics de Gaudí did over those years to raise awareness of Gaudí’s life and work. It also provides insight into the internal operations of the association and its relationships with other organisations and, at various times, the administration during most of the Franco regime, as well as culture (and tourism) in Barcelona in those years, to a certain extent. 

The contents are varied and diverse, with a wide range of document types. Firstly, it includes documents referring to the internal organisation of the association, such as calls for board meetings, minutes and internal documents. Then there are all sorts of documents about the initiatives and activities Amics de Gaudí organised or took part in: inaugural events, exhibitions, conferences, films, projections, publications, tours, radio programmes, etc.  

The archive also has a significant number of press articles related to Gaudí, his work and the Amics de Gaudí activities, as well as 630 photos (mainly black-and-white, positives) and five rolls of film (16 mm). 

Highlights include the founding manifesto to commemorate Gaudí’s hundredth birthday (1852-1952) and the association’s visitor log. 

Regarding the activities, the criterion applied has been to group together as much information as possible on each activity (inaugural events, exhibitions, conferences, films, projections, publications, tours, radio programmes, etc.), which may include press clippings, dissemination documents, letters, etc. 

The information on exhibitions has been separated from the rest and kept all together, given its significance and in order to make it easier to access, grouped into six boxes. Each box covers a period of years and houses all the information on the exhibitions held during that period. Each exhibition has its own folder, which contains all the information available on that event (which may include press clippings, dissemination documents, letters, financial documents, etc.). 

It has also been considered best to group together all the information on the Gaudí House Museum to make it more easily accessible. It is stored in a box file and a ring binder. 

 

» Isidre Puig Boada 

Dates: 1887-1984 | Number and formats: 12 box files and 4,958 press articles – paper and electronic 

Creator’s name 

Isidre Puig Boada (1891-1987) 

Creator’s background 

Isidre Puig Boada was born in Barcelona in 1891 and died in the city in 1987. 

While studying architecture, he met Antoni Gaudí and became one of his disciples and collaborators. 

A great scholar of the master, in 1929 he published the first book on the Temple, based on his conversations with Gaudí and the original plans for the works, which would later be destroyed in a fire.  

He led the Temple works from 1966 to 1974. 

Archive history 

Between 1957 and 1961, Isidre Puig Boada donated 4,725 press articles from his personal archives to the Amics de Gaudí association.  

The rest of his archive, which is 12 file boxes and 233 press articles, was given to the Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família. 

Scope and content 

It includes articles published between 1887 and 1984 about Gaudí’s work in newspapers and journals around the world.  

The archive also includes his letters from Joan Bergós and Lluís Millet, among others, about various aspects of building the Temple. 

Highlights include the architectural studies for the roofs and the sacristy, as well as photos, postcards, brochures, invitations and programmes for a variety of activities held at the Temple. 

 

» Francesc Cardoner 

Dates: 1876-1997 | Number and formats: 2.5 linear metres (23 box files and 4 tubes with posters and plans) - paper and electronic 

Creator’s name 

Francesc de Paula Cardoner i Blanch (1929-1997) 

Creator’s background 

Francesc de Paula Cardoner was born in Barcelona in 1929 and died in the city in 1997. 

He worked with Isidre Puig Boada and Lluís Bonet i Garí to build the Temple of the Sagrada Família and became head architect from 1981 to 1985. 

He trained as an architect and worked as an archaeologist, also collaborating with the Museu d’Història de Barcelona (History of Barcelona Museum). 

Archive history 

The archive was compiled by Francesc Cardoner until his death in 1997, when his widow donated it to the Gaudí House Museum, managed since 1992 by the Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Foundation. 

Scope and content 

It is the result of architect Francesc Cardoner’s professional activity at the Temple of the Sagrada Família, and also includes personal documents such as letters, photographs, invitations, postcards, etc.  

Highlights include studies for various parts of the Temple, such as the columns, side naves and, the most complete, a study with calculations and measurements for the Passion façade. 

Also noteworthy are the study on restoring the doves on the cypress tree on the Nativity façade, symbology studies and comparative studies of the Passion and Nativity façades. 

The archive includes administrative documents from his time as head architect: work estimates, invoices, photos, plans, drawings, posters for fund-raising campaigns, etc. 

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Documentary collections

Documentary collections

Documentary collections

Col·leccions documentals Intro

Non-organic grouping of documents compiled and organised based on subjective or preservation criteria. 

Non-organic grouping of documents compiled and organised based on subjective or preservation criteria. 

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Plans library

Plans library

Plans library

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Dates: 1940-2009 | Number and formats: 4,275 plans, sketches and drafts - paper and electronic

Creator’s name 

Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família Foundation (1895-present) 

Creator’s background 

In 1940, work began again on the Temple of the Sagrada Família and so did the search for fragments of the models and original plans in order to continue construction. Since then, the plans library has collected general and more detailed plans, both for design and construction, mostly created by the architects and surveyors charged with building the Temple. 

Archive history 

The Temple of the Sagrada Família Technical Office (now known as the Projects Department) was in charge of safeguarding the hard-copy plans to be used for continuing the Temple until 2016.  

The plans were kept in a small space off the Temple Technical Office, then located in the Basilica basement where the gift shop is now found. 

To keep track of them, there was a small spiral notebook where someone in the department kept a hand-written list of the plans, categorised by areas of the Temple.  

In 2001, at the architects’ request, some of the plans were digitised (925) and a first description of the documents was made. 

In 2016, given the imminent transfer of the Projects Department and lack of space in the new offices, the archive was transferred to the Documentation Centre after digitising all the plans and storing them in square storage tubes instead of the round ones. 

This archive was transferred to the Documentation Centre in several pieces:  

2016: plans library transferred to the Documentation Centre. Digitisation and description of the automated catalogue.  

2018: digitisation of the remaining plans and beginning of work to draft a description of these documents. 

2019: description completed. 

 

Entry data 

Internal archives. 

Scope and content 

This is a closed collection made up solely of hard-copies of plans created between 1940 and 2009. 

From 2007, all plans are made electronically and go directly into the administrative archive of the Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família. 

The collection comprises 4,275 plans, drawings and sketches, architectural, urban-planning and structural in nature, on paper, created between 1940 and 2009 by the Foundation’s Technical Office (now the Projects Department).  

Most of the plans are for the Passion façade and the windows on the side naves, as over this period work focused on building this façade and the side and central naves. It also includes designs for the central towers and the Glory façade. 

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Multimedia

Multimedia 

Multimedia 

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Dates: 1884-actualitat | Volum i suport: 127.873 fotografies/positius (paper i electrònic) i 41,3 TB de vídeo (electrònic) 

Nom del productor 

Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José (1866-1895) 

Fundació Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família (1895-actualitat) 

Història del productor 

Des dels primers anys de la construcció del temple, l’Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José va realitzar i recopilar les fotografies que il·lustraven l’evolució de les obres. 

Posteriorment, la Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família ha assumit aquesta tasca i ha format un corpus visual que esdevé un testimoni únic del procés de construcció de la Basílica de la Sagrada Família. 

Història arxivística 

Les fotografies en paper han estat conservades en diferents dependències de la seu de l’Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José i de la Junta Constructora. 

A partir de l’any 1990, la custòdia de la documentació recau sobre el Centre de Documentació, que assumeix les tasques d’ordenació, classificació i descripció. 

Dades sobre l’ingrés 

Fons propi. 

Abast i contingut 

La col·lecció inclou les fotografies i els vídeos realitzats o recopilats per l’Asociación Espiritual de Devotos de San José i la Fundació Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família.  

S’inclouen totes les fotografies i vídeos de seguiment de l’obra i les realitzades amb motiu de les activitats realitzades al temple: captes, portes obertes, Nadal, etc. 

Destaquen les fotografies en les quals figura Antoni Gaudí i les que il·lustren els primers anys de la construcció del temple. 

El fons inclou també fotografies d’autor, realitzades per fotògrafs professionals externs. Així, s’inclouen algunes fotografies realitzades per Adolf Mas (1861-1936), fotògraf especialitzat en l’àmbit de l’art, arquitectura i paisatge i un dels principals fotògrafs del Modernisme català. 

El fons inclou també produccions de vídeo i reportatges vinculats a la construcció de la Sagrada Família i, en general, a l’obra d’Antoni Gaudí.

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Posters

Posters

Posters

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Dates: 1940-present | Number and formats: 600 posters (approx.) - paper and electronic 

Creator’s name 

Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família Foundation (1895-present) 

Creator’s background 

The Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família, in carrying out its activity, has produced and compiled posters related to Antoni Gaudí, the Temple of the Sagrada Família and other works by the architect. 

The posters produced internally served to raise awareness of various activities tied to Temple construction. So, a significant portion of the documents in this archive are posters for fund-raising campaigns held to pay for construction. 

Since 1990, it has also included posters produced externally that are related to Antoni Gaudí and his work, compiled and selected by the Documentation Centre staff. 

In 1992, when the Gaudí House Museum was transferred to the Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família, the latter also took over custody of the posters compiled by Amics de Gaudí that were housed in the former Casanelles library.  

Archive history 

The paper posters have been kept in various rooms at the headquarters of the Junta Constructora de la Sagrada Família. 

From 1990, the Documentation Centre has been in charge of their safekeeping, organising, classifying and describing the documents. 

In 2015, the posters that were in the former Casanelles library were moved to the Documentation Centre. 

Entry data 

Internal archives. 

Scope and content 

Collection of printed posters created by the Foundation or any other organisation to raise awareness and/or publicise an event, campaign, etc. 

All the posters refer to events related to Antoni Gaudí and his collaborators, the Temple of the Sagrada Família and his other works. 

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Access and copying conditions

Access and copying conditions

Access and copying conditions

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Restricted access. For access, a written request clearly indicating the documents needed and reason for using them must be sent tocentredocumentacio@sagradafamilia.org

Any images resulting from access to the documents may not be offered for sale or given or loaned to third parties. Anyone requesting copies assures they are for personal use only, solely for academic or research purposes. If the copies are to be used for publishing or copying the documents in any format, those interested must contact the Documentation Centre in writing, specifying how the copies requested will be used, including the print run. 

Authorisation from the Foundation to use copies, if granted, does not in any case release the applicant from paying any applicable copyright fees for the documents copied. 

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