Mallorcan joinery (doors, windows, shutters)

What it is and technique

The fuster makes the wood of the house: doors, windows, Majorcan blinds, beams, stairs, cupboards. Work to measure each wall hole. The most recognizable piece is the Mallorcan blind: an exterior shutter with slats that provides shade, lets air pass through and regulates light.

Short story

• Middle Ages-18th century: assembly carpentry (beams, roofs) and plank doors in houses and possessions (per verify dates by typology).
• 17th century: the large wooden eaves of the University House (Palma Town Hall), compendium of carving and carpentry (Bauçà de Mirabó, 2023).
• 18th-19th centuries: slatted blinds on facades become widespread (to verify dating).
• 20th century: aluminum and PVC replace wood in new construction; The wooden blinds are still being rehabilitated.
• Today: the regulations of many historic centers require wooden or traditional-looking carpentry (to verify by municipality).

Process step by step

Mallorcan blind (summary):

1. Measure the gap: each old window is different.

2. Wood: traditionally pine (pi) from the island; today red pine, iroko or similar (per verify current use).

3. Frame: stringers and cross members attached to mortise and tenon.

4. Slats (llames): fixed or mobile, inclined to pour water and cut off the sun.

5. Finestro (to verify term): practicable window inside the blind.

6. Hardware: hinges, gulfs, pins (see ferro-forjat ).

7. Finish: paint; Green is the most widespread color (to verify origin).

• Tools: saw, dowel, chisel, gramil; today, workshop machinery.

Forms and objects

• Mallorcan blind (slat shutter).
• Porta forana: street door, often double-leaf with a shutter.
• Finestres and porticons (blind interior shutters).
• Bigues and cabirons: roof and floor beams and joists.
• Wooden stairs and railings.
• Wall closets and built-in cupboards.
• Voladís: carved wooden eaves (Palma Town Hall).

Vocabulary

• fuster: carpenter.
• fusteria: carpentry (trade and workshop).
• persiana: slatted shutter.
• llama: lama.
• porticó: interior shutter.
• porta forana: street door.
• biga: joist.
• voladís: cantilevered eaves.
• galze: recess where the blade fits.
• espiga i caixa: box and tenon assembly.
• garlopa: long brush.
• escarpra: chisel.
• pi: pine.

Geography

• Palma: greater concentration of carpentry shops (Son Castelló) and door and shutter workshops.
• Manacor and Inca: other centers; Manacor, 16 fusters on the board.
• The entire island: the shutter defines the town façade.
• Local pine wood until the 20th century; today almost all imported (to verify).

Xifres

• Wooden blinds: €200-500 per window (commercial directory; indicative).
• Carpenter hour: €25-50 (directory; sources disagree).
• Named workshops (general carpentry; no traditional specialty stated): Fusteria Ebenisteria Tomeu Mestre (Sineu), Miquel Duran Fusteria (Manacor, almost 40 years).

Why is it design

• Climate solved with wood: shade, cross ventilation and privacy without energy.
• Repairable: a slat is changed, not the window.
• Urban identity: the shutter is the visual pattern of the Mallorcan town.
• Proximity design compared to generic aluminum.

State

I live in rehab; Traditional carpentry competes with “imitation” aluminum and PVC.

For the project

• Possible part: catalog of blinds and doors by town (atlas); contemporary blind with a fuster (local wood, new slat).
• Contact: fusters of Sineu and Manacor; Cercador d'artesans del Govern.
• Background question: why is the Mallorcan blind still the best air conditioning on the island?

Sources

• mallorca.com/ca/directori/fuster
• mallorca.com/ca/directori/fuster/palma
• mallorca.com/ca/directori/fuster/manacor
• mallorca.com/es/directorio/empresa/fusteria-ebenisteria-tomeu-mestre-sineu
• mallorca.com/ca/directori/empresa/miquel-duran-fusteria-manacor
• caib.es/siciefront/artesania/index.jsp?idioma=ct

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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