Josep M. Jujol

178 Pages·1996·10.7 MB·English

by  Ligtelijn, Vincent

Josep M. Jujol
Vincent Ligtelijn, Rein Saariste
010Publishers
JosepM.Jujol
Th±o On»
-OFY-F5LU
010PuMlshmRotterdam1996
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VincentLigtelijn, ReinSaariste
Josep M. Jujol
withaprefacebyAldovanEyck
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Contents
7 PrefaceAI6ovanEydc 116 CasaAndreu.Tarragona
118 BuildingoncornerofEnanrtorados.
8 JosepMariaJujol.187Q-1Q4Q.architect Barrelona
44 Bathhouse,graduationproject 110 DevelopmentprojectforElSamont^.
46 WorkonCasaBatll6facade.Barcelona SantJoanDespi
4? WorkonCasaMil^facade.Barcelona no 'Bill-paying'projectsforSantJoanDespl
4» TeatrodelPatronatodelObrero.Tarragona 114 CasaPlanells.Barcelona
so TorreSansalvador.Barcelona 110 Jujol'sownhouse.SantJoanDespi
sa InteriorofCathedralofPalmadeMallorca 131 CasaRovira,SantJoanDespi
M DetailsofParkGQell.Barcelona 111 RestorationofRomanamphitheatre,
54 TiendaMaftach,Barcelona Tarragona
w
56 TorredelaCreu.SantJoanDespf ChurchofMontserrat,Tarragona
66 Constant!"presbytery 138 CasaSerra-Xaus,SantJoanDespi
67 CasaIglesias,Barcelona 140 PalaciodelVestido,Barcelona
6i CasaXimenis,Tarragona i^a Fountain.Barcelona
70 CasaBofarull.Tarragona 143 CasaCamprubi,CorneMAdeLlobregat
80 CasaNegre,SantJoanDespi 148 CalPassani.SantJoanDespi
96 CasaVicenteDeuIGiu,SantJoanDespf 149 Jujol'sownhouse,SantJoanDespi
98 TallaresMaftach.Barcelona 154 MasCarreras,Tarragona
10a Creixellchurchspire 158 CarmeliteConventTarragona
10^ TorreOueralt.Barcelona 16a TorreCodina,Badalona
106 ChurchinthecentreofVistabella. 164 Furniture
Tarragona 174 Biography
112 CasaBruguera,Barcelona 175 Bibliography
m
CamerindelCarmen,Tarragona 176 Acknowledgements

'Makeawclcoma AldovanEyck PrefaCQ
ofMchdoor*m
faceofeach Witharchitectureandmeaningdriftingapart-iielieveitornot-thislittle
window' volumecomesasamessagefromanothermoreenlightenedworld.Itwas
(AldovanEyck) tohaveappearedin1979forthehundredthanniversaryofJujol'sbirth,
Dgogofni^nannemtoCasa blountan.o_Thpuebaluisthheorrscohualddebveefroyuthnidnwgitrieiandgyt:otetxatiic.edpilaenrsi,sicd-iangortaeivm,enthieniBraorcwen>
photographsandlayoutSincethisfirstpioneeringeffortflounderedsever-
alattractivebooksonJujolhavebecomeavail^le.Whatmakesthepru>
entone,whichIsamodestversionoftheonetheauthorsoriginallyIntend-
ed,sotimelyandgratifying,iswhattheauthorsbringtobearabouttheir
singularlyendowedsubjectartd,indirectly,whyhbworkIssorelevant
today.Infacttheopeningparagraphsputthereaderontherighttrack
straightaway:InJujol'iiworldadetail'^scopereachesbeyonditsactual
sizelExpandingonthispivotalstatementtheauthorsUA\usthatJujolthe
architectmadespacesinaccordancewiththeiruse^whilstJujolthepainter
betto¥veduponthemunexpectedmoods.Hisdecorations,weread,impart
anambiguousdimension,thusescapingfromtheirusualIsolatkm.hiother
words,Jujol'iidecorationsarenotmerelysomethingaddedwhichcould
justaswell,orbetter,besubtracted(Loos-Oud).butavitalspatialIngre-
dient.Suchdecoratfonsareinfacte/aboratfonswhichstrengthenthe
physicalplace^iualHyofthespacesmade:refiningtheirappraclatedhu-
mancontext.Jujolthusliterallypreparedhisspacesforhumanuse-still,
afterall,thearchitectsprimaryjob.Howpainfullydifferentthis,when
contrastedwiththecurrentskkwishtominimisethevalueofardiitectur-
aldetailandbelittleattentionforplace-qualityonthegroundsthatthis
detracts-fromthe'big'centralconcept.Bigness,thelatestmagicword,is
evenexpectedtorenderarchitecturenolongernecessary-obsolete.The
obvioustruth,ofcourse, pointstotheexactoppositeandisonewhich
Jujolinparticularsubstantiatedsowell,thatonlythrougharchitecture
canoversizebesuccessfullytamed-humanised.Architectsareobligedto
subdueBigness(whateveritmeans)-gigantismandoversize.Thattoois
theirspecificjob.
DidJujoldropthoseplatesinordertoputthemtogetheragainoverthe
curvedsurfacesoftheworld'smostbeautifulpublicseat?Withthisquestion
theauthors,atanyrate,introducethenotionofamoreinclusive-'sur-
realist'theycallit-rationale;onewhichJujoldrewuponcontinuallyin
onewayoranother.Thesolutionshecameupwithareasstartlingasthey
areingenious;theresultofwhatIliketocall'hendecagonic'thinlcing-
theunexpectedefficacyoftheunusual
LittledidweknowthatitwasJujolwhohadcontributedsuchastonishing
elaborationstosomeofGaudi'smasterpieces.Theauthorsmalceitquite
clearthatJujolwasnominorGaudi.butasmallgiantnexttoalargeone-
anappropriateparadoxaboutrelativesizel
?
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Jujolaged46
Suddenly, from the endless shards and cracks in the flow of
mosaicofthebenchatParkGQell'ssquare, acolour, ashape, a
plateappears.Aplate?PidJujolsmashtheplatehehadcarefully
•ictracted fromthepileofdebrisandthen meticulously recon-
structaplateInthebench?BeitasItmay.hewasabletotilethe
curvedsurfacesinthisway,withsurrealistingenuity.
JosepMariaJujol, 1879-1949,architect
WhenwearrivedatCaseBofarull,wewereinformedbythemasterofthe
housethatweshouldfirsttakealookatthesimplespaceatthetopofthe
hightower,theweatherstation,ifwewishedtounderstandanythingof
thisfarmhousebyJujol.Amomentearlier,fromthefiekisbelow,wehad
seenthetwocomerwindowsbelongingtothatroom-man-sizedand
installeddiagonally,withaFrenchwindowbetweenthem.OnceInside,
wediscoveredthatthetwowindowsconsistedofthreecolouredpanes,
oneabovetheother.Theone,seenfrombottomtotop,inthecolours
green,yellowandblue;theotherInyellow,redandpurple;whilstthe
paneintheFrenchwindowwasofplainglass.Thefarmerwalkedacrossto
thecentral,clear-glazedwindowinordertoexplainhisenthusiasmabout
thewaythisroomwasused.Ifhewasnthappywiththek>okofhiscrops,
hestoodInfrontofoneofthecolouredwindows.Thecharacterofthe
seasonchangedimmediatelyandhesawhisfiekisJustashewouldlike
themtobe:asgreenandmoistasduckvireedagainstayellow,sunny,blue
horizon,or,throughtheotherwindow,asyellowanddryasathreshing
flooragainstashimmeringmagentasky.
Ir^Jujol'sworld,thescopeofthedetailInvariablyreachedbeyonditssize.
Asapainter,draughtsmanandarchitecthehadhisownviewofreality,
whichnotonlyenabledhimtogivespecialcolourtoallthesimple,tradi-
tionalbuildingmaterialinhissurroundings,butalsotoarrangeallthese
elementsinwayswhich,inthepursuitofnewexpression,producedunex-
pectedeffects Hisfragilestructuresresulted,intheirreversalofVitruvius'
firmitas.inaparadoxicalmonumentality.
Asanarchitect,hecreatedspaceswhichcorrespondedwiththeiruse.Asa
painterhegavethemamoodwithanunexpectedslant.Itisalmostimpos-
sibletoimaginehisarchitecturewithoutdecoration.Itlendssubtletyand
ambiguitytohiswork,andassuchhasnothingtodowithembellishment,
9
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