Jose Antonio Coderch Y De Sentmenat
b. Barcelona, 1913;
d. Barcelona, 1984.

Jose Antonio Coderch Y De Sentmenat - Dynamic Spanish architect and urban design theorist. Coderch was trained at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Barcelona (1929-40), but between 1936 and 1939 his education was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, in which he served as a lieutenant. Following the war he worked in the offices of the Director General of Architecture in Madrid for two years, going on to hold similar positions in Barcelona and Sitges. An energetic practising architect from 1947 until his death, Coderch originally collaborated with fellow Barcelona architect Manuel Vallas Verges. In his urban design and housing projects he always believed in putting human problems first. His career began with two notable but unexecuted designs - the Las Forcas housing project, Sitges (1945), and Ugalde House, Caldetas (1951), but success eventually followed with the Cocheras flats (completed in 1968) and The Barcelona Trade Office Building which draws inspiration from Mies Van Der Rohe. In an article entitled “There are no geniuses that we need now” (published in the Italian magazine Domus in 1961) Coderch imagined the architect as a detached professional, with a recognized duty to serve society. True to his principles, Coderch attempted to produce “truly living works”, unhindered by the dogma and confusion of style. Sadly, his extraordinary last achievement - an extension to the Barcelona School of Architecture was unrealized.

List of major buildings / works
Trade Office Building, Barcelona, 1965.
Cocheras Housing Block, Sarria, Barcelona, 1968.
French Institute Building, Barcelona, 1972.

Bibliography
J. A. Coderch, Architecture and Urbanism (special issue), Feb. 1976.
Javier Ortega, Anton Capitel, J. A. Coderch 1945-1976, Madrid, 1978.
Toshiaku Tange, “The Dilemma of Coderch”, Architecture and Urbanism, April 1978.