Rajoles d’oficis designate a traditional typology of ceramic tile common in 18th-century Catalonia, typically featuring figurative polychrome decoration or, alternatively, monochromatic cobalt blue designs on a white glaze. These tiles served both decorative and didactic purposes, often illustrating professions of the period.
Among the holdings of the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (DHub) is the tile Rajoles d’oficis, Sastre (Tailor), produced in Barcelona between 1750 and 1799, with dimensions of 13.5 × 13.5 × 1.5 cm.
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In a contemporary response to this historical motif, the Ex-Designer Project Bar has developed a series of ceramic tiles using additive manufacturing processes. The series includes:
3D Tile, Food Printing Machine (Barcelona, 2020)
Dimensions: 14 × 14 × 1.5 cm
3D Tile, Algorithm (Barcelona, 2020)
Dimensions: 14 × 14 × 1.5 cm
Both works are also part of the permanent collection of the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (DHub).
With the aim of projecting the notion of the -rajoles dels oficis- beyond its historical coordinates, we have developed, within the framework of the Ex-Designer Project Bar, a series of pieces that reconfigure its constructive essence. Conceived as articulations between past and future, these pieces shift from an artisanal logic to advanced manufacturing processes, specifically those associated with additive 3D printing technologies. In doing so, the concept of the tile becomes timeless. This gesture is not merely a material update, but rather a critical reflection on the enduring presence of the constructive object within the cultural imaginary and its potential as an operative symbol of a new form of digital craftsmanship.
