Josep Torres Clavé

Born in Barcelona in 1906, Josep Torres Clavé earned his degree in architecture in 1929 and began his professional career—still a student—at the studio of his uncle, Jaume Torres Grau. That same year, he co-founded GATCPAC, a pioneering group aligned with the European rationalist avant-garde, created to counter the cultural decline of architecture and design in Spain. They championed a new professional ethic grounded in social commitment and a modern, functional, and austere approach to architecture. Torres Clavé also served as editor of the group’s main platform, *AC. Documentos de Actividad Contemporánea*.

Among his most iconic works are the Central Antituberculosis Dispensary (1935–1938) and the Casa Bloc (1932–1936), both in Barcelona and designed in collaboration with Josep Lluis Sert and Joan Baptista Subirana. His interest in design also led him to co-found MIDVA in 1935, alongside Sert and Antoni Bonet—a storefront for a new generation of modern objects made with affordable materials and conceived for a society in transition. Many of his furniture pieces were first designed for rationalist homes and later adapted with the aim of standardized production.

With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, GATCPAC dissolved. Most of its members went into exile or, as in Torres Clavé’s tragic case, lost their lives in the conflict. He died in 1939 at the age of 33. As Josep Lluís Sert wrote, his energy, talent, and passion were the spirit of the group.