Benedicte Bodard – Mesa Bonita
November 17, 2022 |
Own a piece of Barcelona!
Benedicte began dumpster diving for the tiles and bringing them home. She learned that these tiles were produced by applying coloured powdered marble to a base of concrete through a hydraulic process. The tiles can be up to a hundred and twenty five years old and were a fundamental part of the Catalan Modernista movement which in many ways mirrored Art Nouveau. Antoni Gaudi is without a doubt the Modernista’s most famous practitioner and his still unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedral is the style’s finest example.
Benedicte decided to start collecting these tiles which soon piled up quickly in family apartment. The idea was clear, she was not just going to hoard them but she was going to give them a second life by making tables, consoles, frames, trivets and related products.
It was then that Mesa Bonita was born.
She personally rounds up the tiles and chisels up to 3 inches of age hardened cement from the back of them by hand, restores the front and treats them to return to the tiles to their original beauty. Then Benedicte oxidises or paints the frames (which are made by local artisans), sets and grouts the tiles. All is handmade, that is for sure!
What we like about them
In their own words
I love my rescued Modernist tiles. They’re beautiful. But it isn’t only their intrinsic beauty that motivates me. I want to recycle them – reinvent a new use for the them – and allow people to relive the glory of their past.” Benedicte
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