Rajoles hidràuliques (hydraulic cement tiles)

What it is and technique

Uncooked cement tile. The color layer (cement, marble powder, pigments) is poured into a metal mold with climbers that separate the colors; on top, layers of dry mortar; It is pressed with a hydraulic press and cured with water. Mallorca has its own motifs and palettes in town and modernist houses.

Short story

• Origin around 1857; It was unveiled at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 as a tile that did not require cooking and was forged under a hydraulic press (hence the name). Golden age: late 19th century and early 20th century, with modernism.
• Spain once had more than a thousand factories. In Mallorca, almost every town had its own: more than 100 workshops until the middle of the 20th century (Homo Faber).
• Years 1960-1970: cheaper stoneware replaced them; most close or are converted (cement beams and vaults).
• 1933: Gabriel Huguet founded Huguet in Campos. During the tourist boom he continued making cement beams and vaults; participates in the construction of Can Lis and Can Feliz by Jørn Utzon.
• Biel Huguet, grandson and architect, relaunches the hydraulic rajola with contemporary design (2000s; exact date to be verified).
• Small revival since the 2010s in renovations and new construction.

Process step by step

1. Metal mold (motlle) with a climb: brass or metal grid that separates the colors of the drawing.

2. View layer: fluid paste of white cement, marble powder, fine sand and pigments; Color by color is poured into each compartment (in Huguet, with a pastry bag).

3. The climb is removed; The colors remain next to each other without mixing.

4. Bottom layer: dry cement and sand mortar that absorbs water from the exposed layer.

5. Premsat: high pressure hydraulic press. Without oven.

6. Desemmotllat and curat: immerse or water with water and let it harden in the air for about two weeks.

7. Finishing: on site it is polished and sealed; Unsealed it is soft and stains. Clean with neutral soap, never acids.

• Rhythm: a multicolor mosaic of 20 x 20 cm, maximum 3 m² per day (Huguet, 2013).

Forms and objects

• Rajola 20 x 20 cm, the standard size (also 15 x 15 and 25 x 25, please check in Mallorca).
• Catifa: central cloth with a drawing that imitates a carpet.
• Border: perimeter band that frames the catifa.
• Sòcol / corner piece: edge and corner pieces.
• Plain Rajola: single color, to fill.
• Motifs: geometric, floral and modernist scrolls; stars, rhombuses, checkerboard.
• Derivatives in Huguet: handmade terrazzo, cement beams and vaults, custom pieces.

Vocabulary

• rajola hidràulica: pressed cement tile, without firing.
• mosaic hidràulic: synonym used in Catalonia.
• rajola: tile in general.
• rajoler: who makes rajoles.
• rajoleria: rajoles workshop.
• trepa: metal grid that separates the colors.
• motlle: metal mold of the piece.
• premsa: hydraulic press.
• capa vista: colored layer, the one that is stepped on.
• pols de marbre: marble dust from the visible layer.
• ciment blanc: base of the color layer.
• pigment: oxides that give color.
• adobar: cure with water (per verify use in Mallorca).
• catifa: carpet-like central composition.
• cenefa: decorative border strip.
• trespol: floor of a room (in Mallorca).
• terratzo: cement pavement with marble china.

Geography

• Before, factories in almost every town (cement, sand and marble easy to transport; local demand).
• Today: Campos (Huguet) and Lloseta (Pavimientos Lloseta; own production according to the press in 2013, current activity to be verified).
• Campos also concentrates teulera and rajoleria: construction material tradition of the Migjorn.

Xifres

• More than 100 workshops in Mallorca until the middle of the 20th century (Homo Faber).
• 2 own producers in 2013: Huguet and Pavimientos Lloseta (Mallorca Magazin).
• 2013 indicative price: €40-100/m² depending on drawing and colors.
• Production: up to 3 m²/day in multicolor mosaic.
• Huguet: founded in 1933; third generation.

Why is it design

• Without oven: forging by pressure and water; less energy than fired ceramic.
• The drawing is the material: the color is several millimeters thick; It is worn without losing the drawing and can be repolished.
• Modular system: few pieces (plain, catifa, border, corner) make up infinite rugs.
• Open tool: the climb allows new drawings with the same process; That is why architects and designers (Herzog & de Meuron, Chipperfield, Urquiola, Häberli...) work with Huguet.
• Proximity: village factory that serves local and international architecture. See proximity design .

Where and who today

• Huguet — Campos (Camí Vell de Ciutat 33). Founded in 1933 by grandfather Gabriel; today Biel Huguet, third generation. Hydraulics and terrazzo by hand, custom orders, visits. huguet

State

I live, thanks to the demand for architecture and design.

Contemporary Updates

Huguet is the great case of local craft in international architecture. Homo Faber cites collaborations with Herzog & de Meuron, David Chipperfield, Barozzi Veiga, Martínez Lapeña-Torres, Lluís Clotet, Carme Pinós, Alberto Lievore, Sybilla, Alfredo Häberli, Caruso St John, Patricia Urquiola and Sergison Bates. Award associated with Mies van der Rohe (2015; German press data, to be verified).

For the project

• Possible piece: rajola with new drawing derived from the atlas (siurell motifs, llengües steal, reixes); designer × Huguet collaboration.
• Contact: Biel Huguet.
• Background question: how a town factory becomes a world reference without leaving the town.

Sources

• mallorca.com/es/directorio/empresa/huguet-rajoles-hidrauliques-s-l-campos
• mallorcamagazin.com/service/leben-und-arbeiten-auf-mallorca/wohnwelten-haus-und-
• mallorcamagazin.com/nachrichten/wirtschaft/2018/09/21/64707/lange-out-jetzt-hip-
• port-magazine.com/?p=87361
• homofaber.com/en/artisans/huguet-tile-making-spain
• mallorcamagazin.com/service/leben-und-arbeiten-auf-mallorca/wohnwelten-haus-und-

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

Open it in the atlas →