A portrait for Rainer Graefe

Jan Molema
A portrait for Rainer Graefe
There is a portrait of Josep M. Jujol in which the architect appears in
front of a park painted on canvas. lt is not this false background that
is of interest but the foreground, the personality of the subject in the
portrait. His face is unusual: it seems to want to escape from the
shadow covering the right side; it reveals a faint smile.
Melancholy imprisons this face. One also sees how the left eyebrow
rises slightly in places; this is Jujol the architect - artist. In his right
eyebrow, however, we find Jujol the architect - engineer. Strange as
well is the melancholy of his moustache. A characteristically dandy
moustache, just like his jacket and bow tie. The subject has a pencil
in his pocket next to the inevitable silk handkerchief, which has been
delicately placed in formal juxtaposition to the pocket itself. We finish
with the hat that our architect holds in his hands in a manner which
reminds us of Botticelli’s Venus protecting her pudendum.
Let us examine this hat more seriously and attentively: it shows us
the famous geometry of Jujol‘s respected teacher and master, Antoni
Gaudí i Cornet, and of Jujol himself: ellipse, parabola, hyperbola and
right angle. Is it coincidence?
My feeling is that Jujol, artist and geometrician, choose everything
for this portrait with great care, and so his hat, having recognized in
it the principles that he had studied in his geometry classes at the
Polytechnical University of Barcelona. Jujol is conveying a message to
us: geometry is the basis of all forms, even those that at first sight are
the most strange and incomprehensible. As a reliable theory from the
architect himself is lacking, it is difficult to find the path that leads to
the origin of his forms.1
In this case, our search was less arduous than on other occasions;
in fact, this article is no more than the fruit of rereading pieces already
published, reviewing other material - photos and drawings - and
reconsidering impressions of visits made in recent years to many of
his works; visits which, although they had a scientific basis, have never
been described.2
1
Artists generally evade describing their work and its fundaments. There are notable exceptions such
as Le Corbusier, who left us a theory of geometrical proportions and applied this theory to his designs,
thus confirming that geometry is an indispensable part of architectural design.
2
I spent many years looking for the route that Gaudi travelled towards the originality to be found in
his works. My persistence in believing that there was a specific logic in Gaudi‘s design led me to certain
basic discoveries. However, a long time is required in order to be able to verify what is not described by
the architect himself without falling into hidden traps. (And not just time but method as well. lt is as Gaudi
wrote in his motto, „Method, method, method.... rest in proportion to effort and hard work.“) While preparing this article, it was impossible to conduct any indepth research, as the Jujol Archive remains in the
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What is it about Jujol that attracts me, a northerner? It is his peculiarity,
his strangeness. I like to compare him with the North American Bruce
Goff (Oklahoma 1904 - Texas 1982), who was to evolve towards the
higher level of kitsch, Camp. He preferred everyday vulgarity, the vernacular to formal architecture.
Both sought their originality not in itself but in the application of
popular, ordinary elements. Jujol, in particular, was inspired by
popularized fine arts. In effect, underneath every decoration and
added element (mostly Baroque in Jujol‘s case), we are able to see
the basis from which (Goff and) Jujol began: we are able to perceive
the presence of an architect.
I will never be able to ignore his educated character, his knowledge of
the basic elements of classic architecture. lt is from here that we are
able to investigate how he used his knowledge of geometry, physics
and statics behind aesthetics: in short, his system.
For Jujol, the structure of the concept always played an important role,
though he did not hold it as sacred as Gaudí did. Where they worked
together, it is obvious, that Gaudí determined the general line while
Jujol moulded it. While Gaudí respected the form of the element he
was shaping, Jujol indulged in fantasies to the extent that it would
become impossible to recognize the basic form.
It seems as if Jujol wanted to brake elemental shapes such as circle
and square; while Gaudí always displayed his respect for the laws of
geometry, even in the details. Symmetry had no value for Jujol; quite
the contrary in fact. It was like his eyebrows. He seems to have been
disturbed by regularity - it bored or angered him.
He was also irritated by clean, clear, simple space and sought to
fill it just as much as surfaces: he filled everything. While there is a
continued clarity in the Casa Milá in the stonework by Gaudí, Jujol‘s
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hands of relatives of the architect. Bibliography: Bohigas, O.: Arquitectura Modernista. Editorial Lumen.
Barcelona 1968; id: Reseña y catálogo de la Arquitectura Modernista. Editorial Lumen. Barcelona, 1973;
Flores López, C.: Gaudí, Jujol y el Modernismo Catalán. Aguilar S. A. de Ediciones, Madrid 1982; Gaudígroep Delft (Jan Molema): A. Gaudí, rationalist met perfecte materiaalbeheersing. Delft University Press.
Delft 1979,1987,1989; Gomez, A.: Los diez libros de arquitectura. Madrid 1582; Ligtelijn, V. y Saariste, R.:
Josep M. Jujol, 010 Publishers. Rotterdam 1996; Martinell Brunet, C.: Conversaciones con Gaudí. Ediciones Punto Fijo. Barcelona 1969; Molema, J.: Antonio Gaudí, un camino hacia la originalidad. Colegio
de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Técnicos de Cantabria, Santander 1993; Molema, J.: Het Amerikanisme
van Bruce Goff / The americanism of Bruce Goff, Archis, no. 6-7, 1996; Molema, J.: J. Duiker. Editorial
Gustavo Gili. Barcelona 1989; Solá - Morales, I. de: Joan Rubió y el fortuno del Gaudínismo. Editorial de
la Ciencia Gaya. Barcelona 1975; Tarrús Galtar, Joan Rafael Masó. Col-legi d‘Arquitectes de Catalunya i
Balears. Barcelona, 1971; Tomlow, Jos: Rekonstruktion und Weiterbau der Kirche Santuari de Montserrat,
Montferri. Deutsche Bauzeitung 128(1994), no. 5, pp. 44, 46, 47; Vitruvius, Marcus L.: De architectura.
Unión de Explosivos Rio Tinto - S. A. Madrid, 1973.
Abb. 1 - Josep Jujol
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ironwork there is completely distorted. In the stone, we at least
recognize the horizontal lines that indicate the various floors in the
building. The iron, however, follows no particular direction. Jujol was a
restless character who attempted to escape from nature, of which he
himself was an inseparable part.
Works, principles and inspirations
It is apparently „baroquismo“ - more baroque than the Baroque - that
was Jujol‘s greatest inspiration. His oeuvre is more than a collection of
Baroque work, due to the fact that pure Baroque distinguishes more
by its structural complexity than by the filling of space and surfaces.
Horror vacui governs in Jujol, despite the fact that his decoration
almost never overflows, remaining within the limits of the element
(an exception to this being the decoration of the Mañach shop).
lt is clear that Gaudí taught Jujol the essence of the Baroque. lt is
interesting to note the research that Gaudí conducted during the ten
years that Jujol was in the great master‘s studio, in Casa Calvet, Casa
Batlló or, another example, in the stairs at the Güell Park.3
However, Gaudí‘s is a scientific form of the Baroque, such as we
find in the work of Wren, Borromini and Guarini. Jujol’s is an exalted,
overwhelming Baroque, not very different from the most baroquish
examples of his time.
This is especially true for the decoration of the walls of his buildings.
The structural, essentially architectural elements, however, are much
less fervent in production. In this Gaudí went beyond him. Gaudí‘s
architecture is more consistent, more faithful to certain structural
principles. lt seems as if Gaudí has mastered the composition of
(spatial) forms better, „in the style of Bach“.
Other writers will perhaps say that Gaudí needed a strict regime in
order to avoid losing himself in countless glorias and hallelujahs.
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3
The console is a truly architectural element. The architect can choose whether to give it a
function, or not. He can choose to express this function, or not. He can give it a function and express it
or he can express it without giving it. In Moscow, for example, I have seen classic Stalinist consoles in
concrete that had to express the function of serving as a support when in fact they could not even support
themselves.
The Torre de la Creu
We do however find several examples of a certain mastery of structure
and form in Jujol‘s architectural work. We find complexity in the group
of cylindrical volumes of various diameters and heights in the Torre de
la Creu. This house next to Sant Joan Despí railway station is set on
a slightly trapezoidal piece of land. It holds two very similar homes.
The layouts are identical, but in height they are different as the
shorter one has a higher tower than the other, as if to create a sense of
balance, but nor would it be logical to make them the same height.
In the case of such a geometrical ground plan, we should ask
ourselves why there is discrepancy between both homes (let us
recall his portrait) and also consider the way in which the degree of
difference is defined.
In Gaudí’s work, I can usually explain the divergences without any
problem, but here it is difficult. lt would be too easy to brush the
question aside as being whimsical. You need to measure the land,
find determinant conditions, establish proportions and study possible
sources of inspiration. The interpenetration between the cylinders is
highly Baroque, but the division of the group by a continuous wall is
contrary to the spirit of the Baroque as it separates the various spaces
rather than connecting them. In summary, the reason why Jujol had
to use cylinders is unclear. Given the ground plans, the circles cannot
be said to be logical forms as in most of the rooms they have reached
impractical shapes. Nor does the shape of the plot or its orientation
provide a solution; it would have been more practical and simpler to
use a rectangle.
The solution probably lies in the proposals of the client and her son,
Jujol‘s aunt and cousin, the mother and brother of his future wife.4
Vistabella Church
As their structure is basically clear, the formal language is well
co-ordinated, the use and connection between the land and
building are functional and coherent, the materials used are highly
4
See my book Antonio Gaudí, un camino hacia la originalidad for my research into Gaudí‘s development of Baroque (Borrominesque) principles. Possible sources for the Torre de la Creu are the works of
Dientzenhofer (Heilige Dreifaltigkeit, Waldhausen 1685) Santini, Neumann (Vierzehn Heiligen, 1743–1763)
and Fischer von Erlach.
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unified, etc., the churches of Montferri and Vistabella became the most
complex buildings in his entire oeuvre. The parish church of Vistabella fits
perfectly into the heart of the town and connects with the naturel
colours of the centre and the landscape. From a distance you can
see the spire rising up above the mass of exposed vaults, formed into
the shape of an enormous fruit, above the roofs of the surrounding
houses.
As you draw closer, you see this „melon“ disappear and the building
takes on a different, smaller scale, the details become more noticeable, and in a very natural way you arrive at the entry to the church
at a crossroads between two streets. Directly intriguing feature is the
ground plan, laid out diagonally. This has many advantages at the
almost square piece of land. Escaping from the confines of a square in
order to lay out a plan by turning it 45° is typically Baroque.
Opening up the corners to create the entrance is, however, a much
more modern touch, coming into fashion at the beginning of the
20th century.5 However, Jujol was not a modern architect in this sense.
Perhaps it was his country‘s climate which indicated to him that this
style of architecture (in the way that J. Duiker practised it at that time
in his open-air school, Amsterdam 1927 - 30) was not suitable for the
landscape of Tarragona, although we will see one exception to this,
the Casa Planells.
In any case, Jujol opened up a corner to make it possible to enter on
the diagonal, the longest line, thereby giving an extra dimension to the
interior, a spatial tension heightened by the dome, a group of vaults
over two diaphragmatic arches, that cross below different angles,
reinforcing the spatial tension and dividing the space into unequal
parts.
The addition of minor areas with their respective spaces - spaces
connected in the modern style with the central space of the nave - is
done in such a way, that is to say asymmetrically, that the overall effect
is to create a space that cannot be understood at first sight.
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5
We can find emphatically open corners in a good number of buildings by H. P. Berlage or Jan Duiker.
The use of steel and concrete skeletons ushered in the open corner as a fundamental element in a new
form of architecture, which influenced to an extraordinary degree the use of light metal window frames and
large panes of glass in buildings being designed.
Abb. 2 - Vier Stockwerke der
Casa Plannells, Avinguda Diagonal Barcelona
Here he has created a truly mystical space, with limited light giving
an unusual feel to the spaces, a feeling that perhaps shares common
roots with German expressionist cinema: dark corners, unexpected
visions, sudden, perhaps spiritualistic confrontations. Spaces where
flying dishes and dancing bottles abruptly appear - a well - directed
phantasmagoric house.
But ghosts do not appear in the fields of Tarragona. Here reigns the
Catholic mysticism of Marian apparition, as created by Luis Buñuel or
Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Casa Planells
The formal abundance in Gaudí‘s work has set many a description off
in the wrong direction. If the circumstances or conditions under which
the projects described, were designed and built, are unknown, it is
easy to make mistakes.
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Abb. 3 - Casa Planells (in der Bauphase)
One discovers, for example, the paucity of information on the role
that municipal building standards played in all his work. And thus,
diametrically opposed to the supposedly capricious approach of the
genius Gaudí, we discover a rationalized method of designing - very
far from whimsical - which included consideration of urban restrictions.
Gaudí always kept to the restrictions in regulations. We must adopt a
similar posture when we are studying Jujol, and it is in this way that we
must act in order to compare the conditions for Casa Milá and Casa
Planells. Both were built at different times, Casa Milá in 1906 - 09 and
Casa Planells in 1923 - 27. Were the town planning rules the same?
For example regarding the maximum height of buildings in the areas
where they were going to put up their constructions, regarding the
permitted size of projections over the building alignement of the street
or regarding the distance of openings from party walls? 6
lt would be interesting to do research on these considerations in
Casa Planells. lt would be possible to confirm in such a study, that the
heights of the projects met those given in regulations of the time.
I understand from the Borrador del Croquis (Rough Sketch) of
October 1923, that the maximum height permitted that year on
Avinguda Diagonal was 22 metres.7 In this rough copy, we also find
a large quantity of information concerning „general rules the
construction of a new building in the inner area of the city must adapt to“.8
The distribution of the different functions and their various spaces in
Casa Planells is partly traditional and partly specific.
Traditional in the approach to the use of the different levels, with the
ground floor destined to trading premises, the first or main floor for
the owner‘s use and then flats to rent above. The main floor has a
distinctive bay window, that goes around the chamfered street corner.
lt is interesting to note how Jujol, rather than building more floors
6
A number of people conducted research into the possibilities of using a cylinder as a home,
including a Greek philosopher! Konstantin Melnikov ( 1890–1974) in particular made a series of attempts
to solve the problem of social housing in the USSR. His own house, as well, is a veritable catalogue of
possible ways to fill a cylinder. Bruce Goff also did some work along the same lines. However, other
projects nearer - by, such as Rubió i Bellver’s „Castell“ (1903), may also have served as direct influences.
7
See „Forma y Norma“ on page 78 of Antonio Gaudí, un camino hacia la originalidad and the
chapter in the same book on the Casa de los Botines in León.
8
Article 231 of the 1976 municipal regulations permits this type of „projecting element“ up to 1/50th of
the width of the street, 1/10th of the width of the pavement and up to 40 cm if it does not cover more than
1/5th of the length of the façade, with even more being permitted above 2,5 metres.
In the case of La Pedrera, even up to 90 cm was permitted. The undulations of the gallery can be partially
explained by article 126, which states: „The projection, however, shall at no time exceed 1,5 m when it is
straight in shape or 2 m when it is polygonal or circular.“
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within the maximum height permitted, gives more height to each
floor for apartments that have a partial mezzanine in the service area,
thereby giving drawing rooms a sense of grandeur and a flood of natural light. The low height of the mezzanine is physically resolved with an
ingenious ventilation system, but this does not give the home spatial
qualities such as those we find in Le Corbusier in his cités or in the
Narkomfin building by Ginsberg.9
lt is strange to note that in his description of Jujol‘s works, José Ráfols
ignores this block of flats; strange because it is in this building that
Jujol is closest to the progressive movements of the mid - 1920s.
There is a tremendous contrast between the preliminary plan full of
religious allusions (to Our Lady of the Sea and the Virgin Mary) for
a detached house on the same plot of land, a project for four two
- storey apartments (the rough sketch of 1923) and a modern interpretation of Casa Milá. lt is above all in the upper part - three two - storey
apartments and a top attic - where we recognize Jujol‘s attempt to join
modern trends, using a concrete skeleton with daring projections,
while still remaining within the terms of urban planning regulations,
although it would not be surprising if such a decision was due to the
client, the contractor Planells. Carlos Flores explains this development
of the project as being „certainly due to financial reasons“, but it is
equally valid to suggest that it was because of the modernisation, that
was then taking place in the life of Barcelona.
The building seems to be constructed on a naturalistic base of the
same type as Casa Milá, increasingly demonstrating towards the top
its modern character in the following aspects: the open reinforced
concrete structure; its undulating projections; the full contact of the
interior with the exterior; the limited number of colours, materials and
shapes; and its explicit horizontal nature. The floors added on afterwards lack these qualities.
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9
Art. 115: „The total height of the building shall not exceed 20 m. However, where the street is 20 m
wide or more, it may extend to 22 m.“
Art. 121: „The building of interior mezzanines or attic space will only be acceptable in shops measuring at
least 5 m high, and on condition that the rooms at the rear open directly out onto a courtyard or garden.
The attic space must be at least 2.5 m high.“ These regulations explain to a large extent the architecture
produced by Jujol.
Montferri shrine
In this project for a shrine on the outskirts of this small town, Jujol
repeated a theme already found in a project for a spa that he
produced at the end of his studies.10
The building is located in a highly effective spot, where it can be seen
from a distance, making wide vistas also possible from the interior.11
Of interest in both cases is the main section, which demonstrates a
sense of yearning, a burning desire to connect with another world, the
„plus ultra“.
The building is about to leap into the abyss, like a diver from his
board. The spa and the shrine are alike in this; in the words of
I. Solá - Morales, „it creates a place to which you go from the town
towards a high, open space dominating the plain.“ It is not known
if Jujol chose the site, but what is certain is that it is difficult to gain
access to it. Also do not know the precise orientation but, symbolist
that he was, Jujol in all likelihood chose a spot full of significance:
thus, the fact that the building is orientated and sited in such way,
that it projects over a natural 5 or 10 metre slope warrants an
explanation. And everything can be explained in this section.
As Solá-Morales writes, it is about the nature of a shrine, in which the
„promenade architecturale“ and the culminating place for worship
must be linked in a unique spatial route.
Here, my attention is caught by the timeless recommendations given
by Vitruvius on the location of a temple, when he says:
„With regard to temples, those dedicated to the patron god of a
city are to be raised in the highest site, where the city can best be
dominated.“ In his fifth book, L. B. Alberti states, „On a hill would be
most worthy ( ... ). Finally, the temple is to be sited in that place where
it is to be with great veneration and majesty.“
10 The spa, with large volumes that remind us of the impressive size of Roman baths, has interesting
aspects. For example, two of the wings seem to be directly influenced bv the Teresian convent and school
by Gaudí; the layout of the spaces and particularly the group of interior courtyards reveal this influence.
The crowning of the tower is certainly of interest, as we can see in the section, as it reflects Gaudí‘s
research into composite warped surfaces, particularly those in the attics at Casa Batlló and in the
pavilions at the entrance to Güell Park and later at Casa Milá. It is certain that, when he was finishing his
studies, Jujol already knew Gaudí and his later designs. It is also striking that the layout, building structure
and the drawing itself are clearly of less interest to the draughtsman than decorating the text. Here, Jujol
the decorator is already to be seen at work.
11 The role that structure and interior temperature control played in Jujol‘s output has yet to be
researched. The literature includes some indications regarding the interest Jujol must have had in
movement in his building, as has been shown by C. Flores.
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Vitruvius, in Book IV, chapter V says that the temple must be orientated
towards the eastern quarter of the sky, but goes on to say, „lf the nature
of the land is such that this orientation is prevented, then the principle
behind the decision must be changed so that it may be chosen in
order to provide the broadest vista of the city from the shrines to the
gods.“
In Jujol‘s design for Montferri, the „statue of the temple“, the
object of worship, is found, as are others (e. g. the Pillar of Saragossa,
Montserrat), up above behind the high altar, leaving room below for
another space, here the sacristy. In this way, below everything, a
covered space is also created outside against the slope, as if it were a
cave in which the image of the Virgin had been found. I am fascinated
by the fact that the literature in general emphasizes that Jujol had very
few resources for this commission.
Solá - Morales writes: „it does not seem that this - in 1926 - is the only
reason for such a peculiar choice of building materials.“ Accepting
that a small town in the region of Tarragona did not have a „mont de
pietat“, full of gold coins to be spent solely on building a shrine outside
the town, we must state that Jujol‘s design and siting lead one to view
it as an expensive project. Expensive in structure, without considering
the cost of the material: the construction alone requires a substantial
surn of money and can only be taken on with unpaid workers and
simple materials. lt would have been much easier and cheaper to build
a modest roof, like those of the houses in the town.
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However, it is obvious that this is not what either the architect or his
client, the priest, had in mind. lt is not surprising then that the people in
town grew tired of thinking about so much unpaid work in order to give
shape to an idea that possibly was not theirs. The enthusiasm, felt by
some in 1922, to make the pilgrimage to the shrine at Montserrat had
faded 12 years later.
This was not the first time, nor the last, when the enthusiasm of a
client, translated into an impressive design by an architect, caught
up in the same enthusiasm, failed, leaving the work half completed.
And we must not forget that when construction finally began, the
financial situation in rural Spain was one of complete misery. The
financial circumstances clearly improved during the eighties, so work
could finally begin again.
Meanwhile, Jujol‘s design had been rediscovered by scientific
historians. Now that it has been completed with the aid of Juan
Bassegoda Nonell and Jos Tomlow it is probably the most imaginative
jewel in Josep Maria Jujol‘s entire work and deserves to be included in
any historical comparison which covers a whole host of chapels, with
Gaudí‘s at the Colonia Güell standing as the archetype.
By way of conclusion
Gaudí inspired Jujol and gave him the opportunity to express his
talent, particularly his decorative skills. However, this inspiration was
also a burden: it stopped him improving, stopped him from reaching
greater heights than the master. Accordingly, the Montferri shrine is
simply a personal interpretation of the Gaudí tradition.
A work that impresses more as a celebration of ingenuity,
understood as freedom, rather than for its faithfulness to Gaudí‘s
principles, in which the structure always played a prime role: form
does not exist for itself but as a logic consequence of geometric and
aesthetic calculations.
Consequently, we are able to view Jujol‘s architecture as a formalist
game in an architectural and colourist sense. And we are able to see
Jujol as someone at play, like the children on the beach in the pictures by
Sorolla. Perhaps Jujol was one of them.
Anything is possible in Surrealism.
in: Juliane Mayer (Hrsg.), Festschrift für Rainer Graefe: Forschen, Lehren und Erhalten, Innsbruck 2009 (innsbruck universtiy press)
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