Joan Moliner with some of the 1,600 tiles he has found in builders’ skips. Photograph: Stephen Burgen/The Guardian
When we were working on the project that became Xandari Harbour, articles like the one below, or any about architectural preservation, were the type we most enjoyed sharing. It has been too long, so here goes:
A man on a mission to preserve Barcelona’s decorative floor tiles
As 19th-century apartment blocks become luxury flats, Joan Moliner is saving part of the city’s heritage
A tile display with Moliner’s Brompton bicycle. Photograph: Joan Moliner
Each morning, from the moment when Joan Moliner unfolds his bicycle for the ride to work to Barcelona city centre, he is on a mission, one eye on the road, the other on builders’ skips. His quarry, if that’s the word, is cement floor tiles.
All over the city, 19th-century apartment blocks are being made over into luxury flats. In the process, a vital part of Barcelona’s heritage – its decorative tiled floors – is ending up in a dump.
Conservation of the architectural heritage rarely extends beyond listing the facade, despite the wealth of interior detail in buildings erected at a time when Barcelona was a mecca for artists and artisans.
“I see these old buildings as a conversation between all the different parts – the walls, the floors, all the details,” says Moliner. “Preserving the facade and nothing else doesn’t make much sense. It’s part of our evolution as a society that we’re throwing away.”
Read the whole article here.
Organikos 
I still precious hand cut tiles from my stay in Portugal over 15 years ago.. Something so special about hand crafted tiles
Yes! And thanks to people like Joan we will still be able to see these gems of history in the future
A man with a plan and a heart for art! We need more people like this in the world.
Agree 100%. Thanks for visiting, and for your comment