He holds a degree in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Barcelona (UB) and in Information Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), and a diploma in Design and Communication from the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm (Germany).

He has been a professor at the Elisava School of Design (1966-73), the Faculty of Information Sciences at the UAB (1978-87), and the Faculty of Fine Arts at the UB (1979-80). He also served as head of the Plastic Arts Service of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1982-87), managing director of the Fundació Caixa Catalunya (1987-89), director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (1989-1994), creator and director of Espai Gaudí at La Pedrera building (1995-2000), general commissioner of the International Gaudí Year (2002), member of the Royal Board of Trustees of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2003-05), and scientific director of the Istituto Europeo di Design Barcelona (2004-07). He was also president of the Catalan Association of Art Critics (1981-91) and vice-president of the International Association of Art Critics (1980-83). He has organized numerous exhibitions. His activity in curating exhibitions and events culminated with his appointment in 1999 as general commissioner of the International Gaudí Year Barcelona 2002 and, subsequently, of the International Dalí Year (2004).

He has specialized in contemporary art movements, artisanal activities, graphic and industrial design, and architectural criticism. He was an art critic for the weekly Destino (1966-76), head of the art section of the newspaper Avui (1976-82), and director of the magazine Batik (1973-78). He is co-author of Cataluña II (1978), Argenters i joiers de Catalunya (1986), and coordinator of the Llibre blanc del disseny gràfic a Catalunya (1985). He is also the author of L’art català contemporani (1972), Plateros y joyeros de Cataluña (1985), Dalí, un artista multidimensional (1990), Joan Miró i el Camp de Tarragona (1994), La Pedrera. Architecture and History (1999), Criticism and Critics. Art Writings (Eumo, 2005), Posters from the Fornas collection. Graphic production of the Second Republic and the Civil War (2006), four volumes of Catalan Posters (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010), published by Enciclopèdia Catalana, the first of which, From Modernism to the 1929 International Exposition, received the award for best edited book from the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 2007, and La Barcelona de Català -Roca (2008, with text by Carlos Ruiz Zafón).

In 1991, he was appointed a member of the Academia de San Fernando. In 2003, he received the National Culture Award for his work as commissioner of the exhibition “Gaudí. Art and Design”. In 2013, he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi, and in 2019, the Gold Medal of the City of Barcelona.