A Conference series focused on the work by Elias Rogent

A moment during the opening of the Conference.
A moment during the opening of the Conference.
(01/06/2017)

Elias Rogent, regarded as the father of modern Catalan architecture, and the author of the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona, in Plaça Universitat, is a figure on which there are many aspects to be discovered. The conference series revolve around this idea, and will take place on June 6 and 7, with lectures and roundtables that will analyze several works by Rogent as an architect and restorer. They will analyze the Historical Building of the UB and the nearby building: Seminari Conciliar (Diputació, 231), as well as Rogentʼs task as a restorer, with focus on the works he carried out in the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.

A moment during the opening of the Conference.
A moment during the opening of the Conference.
01/06/2017

Elias Rogent, regarded as the father of modern Catalan architecture, and the author of the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona, in Plaça Universitat, is a figure on which there are many aspects to be discovered. The conference series revolve around this idea, and will take place on June 6 and 7, with lectures and roundtables that will analyze several works by Rogent as an architect and restorer. They will analyze the Historical Building of the UB and the nearby building: Seminari Conciliar (Diputació, 231), as well as Rogentʼs task as a restorer, with focus on the works he carried out in the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.

The conference series, organized by the UB, the Seminari Conciliar de Barcelona, and the Barcelona Provincial Council, will begin with the lectures “Aproximacions a lʼedifici de la Universitat de Barcelona” (Pere Hereu, UPC) and “Lʼarquitectura de lʼhabitatge dʼElias Rogent. La casa Almirall com a exemple de la seva sistematització” (Maribel Roselló, UPC). Then there will be a roundtable entitled “Arquitectura i urbanisme”. In the afternoon, UB professor Mireia Freixa will give a lecture in the Paranimph of the University of Barcelona followed by a roundtable, entitled “Col·leccions, tresors i patrimoni” which will cover, among other subjects, the origins of the University of Barcelona library archive. Concepció Peig, expert in culture and heritage, will talk about her study on the handwritten memoir by Rogent about his work in Santa Maria de Ripoll from 1886 to 1893. This is an unpublished text that was recovered a few years ago, found in the belongings of the Rogent family. Some content of the text was already collected in the book Santa Maria de Ripoll en el segle XIX. El procés dʼuna restauració (Eduard Soler Foundation, 2015), by Concepció Peig. In the text, Rogent reveals his works in the monastery and defends the critiques he received for his work at that time. Rogent explains that he worked on a re-construction rather than a restoration in Ripoll. Afterwards, there will be the roundtable “La restauració del passat i les seves identitats”. And last, in the afternoon the conference series end with a lecture by Raquel Lacuesta on the legacy of Elias Rogent.


The conferences will include an exhibition in the Philology CRAI Library and the Historical Collection of the UB, as well as the Public Library of Seminari Conciliar. The exhibition will include maps and documents such as accounting books that were used during the construction of both buildings. The exhibition is commissioned by Elias Rogentʼs grandson, Jordi Rogent, and the lecturer Joan Molet.


Elias Rogent, director of works in the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, he built his career as lecturer, theorist, historian, restorer and architect. Interested in his countryʼs medieval past, he is considered the first Catalan Romantic architect and was member of the Barcelona School of Architecture that set its path to Modernism. He was the first head of the Escola Provincial dʼArquitectura de Barcelona and was lecturer of other architects such as Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Antoni Gaudí.