Have you ever looked down while visiting Barcelona, rather than up?
Barcelona is world famous for its modernist architecture like the Sagrada Familia or the Palau de la Musica Catalana. But it also had a flourishing tile industry dating back to 1857, and which today is slowly and silently being thrown into skips and dumpsters.
Bénédicte Bodard, originally from France, relocated to Barcelona in 2001 where she fell in love with the hydraulic floor tiles typically found in the Modernista buildings in the city centre.
When she first arrived the real estate market was booming and many people were remodelling their apartments and tearing up the tiled floors. She sourced her first tiles literally from skips on the side of the road.
Bénédicte has been saving and recycling these discarded tiles for over 20 years now.
And while she came to Barcelona as a lover of architecture – and particularly the La Pedrera building and museum – she never knew she would one day contribute the tiles to an exhibition there.
You can find a range of furniture and decorative art pieces on the Mesa Bonita website.
The list of products include:
You can eve have a custom piece commissioned – all made from upcycled Barcelona hydraulic tiles!
Find out more here: https://mesabonita.es/
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