How a substantial part of Barcelona’s heritage is kept alive through one man’s unique tile collection.
Joel Cánovas first discovered his passion whilst sipping beer on a patio in Barcelona, when he spotted a small colourful pattern amidst a pile of garbage. A hydraulic cement tile prompted his fervour for art and architecture, and later led to him establishing his very own art restoration service in the city.
Hydraulic cement tiles were a once widespread flooring or wall material, used both in homes and in other buildings around the city for several hundred years, roughly since the 19th Century. They first appeared in Catalonia around the 1850s, and have extensively been used not only in Spain, but throughout several countries across Europe and America.
Initially, these tiles were used mostly by middle-class families, as they were a cheaper option than marble, but not any less decorative. Their intricate designs and unique patterns awarded them their fame and marketability. Around the turn of the 20th century, their popularity spread and they were being utilised even in historical or public buildings.
Alas, with the introduction of new and cheaper technologies in a post-war era (around the 1960s), these cement tiles were slowly phased out, and replaced by other materials such as glazed stoneware, which did not leave room for the exploitation of such creativity.
Cánovas, who has nicknamed himself The Tile Hunter on social media, began to document his tile-rescuing adventures, taking particularly to Instagram as his platform of preference, where he can be found under the alias @i_rescue_tiles.
Due to today’s high demand for cost-effective and efficient building materials, these tiles are sadly becoming extinct, yet Cánovas is on a one-man mission to restore the once-commonplace tiles, and in doing so re-establish a taste of Catalonian culture.
When The Tile Hunter embarked on his mission, it began as a simple collector’s hobby. As the months progressed Cánovas’ photos on social media gained recognition, and after a feature in a local newspaper, he was shortly receiving tips on where to find the best hydraulic cement tiles, with people also offering to donate them to him.
It all started in 2014, and since then his collection has flourished, as the Spanish native went on to collect over 2000 unique tile designs, and rescue more than 33000 tiles in total. Because of the tight housing spaces offered by the metropolitan city, Cánovas quickly discovered that he had to move out to a bigger space. Not long after, he transferred his collection to a warehouse outside of the city confines.
Although Cánovas regularly receives offers to sell his collection – and he has occasionally sold some of his most ornamental pieces - he has stated that the objective behind this initiative is not profit-based, but simply to salvage a token of Spanish heritage.
Recently, Cánovas has pioneered a Pokémon-Go-inspired game to entertain his followers. Once a month, he reveals clues on his Instagram account and spreads tiles all over Barcelona for his audience to find and keep. In the future, Cánovas wishes to create an app which would officiate the game, with the purpose of bringing custom and tradition back to an overflowing urban environment.
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