Azulejos
Azulejos Exploring the design of Portuguese tiles
Bianca Teixeira
This book is dedicated to all of those who wish to learn about the design of Portuguese ceramic tiles, known as “azulejos�.
Contents •
Acknowledgements
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Introduction Historical background of tiles Tessellation Reflection Symmetry Rotation Symmetry Translation Symmetry Azulejos
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References
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Acknowledgements I would like to express a huge gratitude to my tutors, Colin and Jason, who guided me throughout the whole process of designing this book. If it was not for them, my initial ideas for this book would not have come to life. Thank you for believing in me and the concept of this publication! I thank my wonderful beau, Petar, for sharing the journey of making this book with me. I thank him for being so patient and being extremely supportive of me when times of pressure took over me. Thank you for helping me realise what I am capable of in the process of designing this book! A big thank you to you, my dear reader, for picking up this book to read! I hope you enjoy this publication as much I enjoyed creating it.
Introduction Ceramic tiles, tiles for short, can be seen almost everywhere in the world. Tiles have two main purposes. They can serve as a structural material, such as building protection, and also as a decorative material. In Portugal, tiles are used on floors and walls to decorate and protect building structures with geometrical patterns, floral motifs and illustations, as a way to represent the Portuguese identity. “Azulejos” is the Portuguese word for ceramic tiles. It is pronounced ɑ zuˈlɛ ʒʊʃ/ or ah-zoo-le-zhoo sh. The word “azulejo” is derived from the Arabic word “zellige” which means “polished stone”. When referring to a single tile it is “azulejo” and the plural version is “azulejos”.
After the introduction of tiles in Portugal, Portuguese craftsmen adopted a different way of making and decorating them compared to other European countries. “Initially, all these tiles would be cut into geometric shapes and painted with very neutral tones” (Santos, L 2019). The designs can go “from simple geometric pattern to ornate reliefs and murals that tell a story. Inside of churches, they’re used to tell biblical stories and allegories, elsewhere, they can be patterned or illustrative, depending on when they were made and the whims of the decorator” (Barnaby, 2019). The most traditional Portuguese tiles are the tin-glazed kind, painted in blue pigment. This book aims to explore “azulejos” and show how these cultural, decorative and functional tiles are designed.
It is said that ceramic tiles were brought in 1503 by the King of Portugal, Dom Manuel I when he “visited Seville and brought the idea back, that Portugal truly adopted this artwork into its culture” (Santos, N 2019). 1
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Historical background of tiles The making and decorating of tiles has gone on for thousands of years and in many ways the history of tiles is a reflection of the entire history of cultural endeavour. They were used to protect and decorate the walls of some of the earliest buildings in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt and are still used today on an unprecedented scale in every form of architecture for their functional and decorative qualities. Tiles come in many shapes and forms and if the word is not used too restrictively it can also be stretched to cover bricks and architectural terracotta and faience. The Romans gave us the word ‘tile’ from the Latin word tegula which in Roman times meant terracotta roof tiles. Tiles can be unglazed or glazed, have moulded, painted or printed decorations, but whatever their shapes, ornamentation or applications, tiles are valued above all for their permanence and durability. Wood rots, stone wears away and metal corrodes, but a well-made and properly fired tile will last almost forever. 10
Tiles are in the first instance a functional building material and are used to protect buildings from the weather, or are applied in interiors to make floors, walls and sometimes even ceilings, more fireproof, hygienic and easier to clean. They have also from the very beginning been valued for their decorative and ornamental qualities, and because in the early days tiles and bricks were an expensive commodity, they came to symbolize the power and prestige of the rulers who commissioned them. Blue faience tiles lined the underground corridors of the Step Pyramid (2686-2613 BC) of Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara in Egypt (top right) and ornamental glazed bricks with bulls and dragons covered the walls and towers of the Ishtar Gate (605-562 BC) of the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia (top left) built on the orders of NeoBabylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II. From the 6th century BC onwards, the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans used decorative terra roof tiles with great effect on their temples. The Chinese
applied coloured glazes to their roof tiles and shaped them in the form of fantastic beasts like dragons to ward off evil (bottom left). Wall tiles became an important form of decoration for the first time from the ninth century AD onwards in countries where Islamic culture predominated. Islamic potters pioneered the making of lustre tiles for use in mosques, palaces and holy shrines. Lustre decorations were created by combining metal compounds of silver or copper with the glaze producing a thin film of metal on the surface of the fired tile that reflected light and these tiles are still regarded as some of the most beautiful ever produced. Islamic potters also pioneered other ceramic techniques such as cuerda seca, tile mosaic and underglaze painting. The latter in particular flourished with astonishing results in the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the Turkish town of Iznik became an important centre of pottery and tile production. Colourful underglaze painted tiles with exquisite floral decorations were produced for use in the palaces and mosques of the ruling elite in Istanbul. In northern Europe the first tiles were made during the Middle Ages. During the thirteenth century magnificent mosaic floors made of lead-glazed tiles were laid in the abbey churches of Fountains, Byland and Rievaulx in North Yorkshire, and monastic establishments throughout northern Europe were important patrons of this type of floor tile. The greatest innovation in medieval tile making was the production of so-called ‘two-colour’ tiles that
consisted of inserting white coloured clay into the red clay of the tile body. After glazing, the white clay became yellow and the red clay turned a deep red-brown. Such tiles were decorated with a range of simplified floral patterns, figurative designs and religious images and were used to create stunning floors in churches, royal palaces and in the houses of the well-to-do. The mid-thirteenth century floors excavated at Clarendon Palace in Wiltshire and Chertsey Abbey in Surrey (now in the British Museum) are celebrated cases in point. The real glory in European tile making came with the production of tin-glazed tiles (known as ‘maiolica’ in Italy and as ‘delftware’ in Holland and England). It was a technique initially developed by the Islamic potters in the Middle East which spread first to southern Europe and then north. Clay tiles were covered with a white glaze made from lead oxide to which tin oxide had been added. This turned the original transparent lead glaze into an opaque white glaze, and in a sense tiles became small white ‘canvases’ on which all manner of designs and figurative subjects could be painted in vivid colours like blue, green, orange and purple. In fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy such tiles were made mainly for use on the floors of churches and in the palaces of the ruling classes but in seventeenth century Holland they were used to cover the walls of the houses of middle class burghers and from that time tiles were commonly found in many homes.
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almost every building in Portugal is decorated with tiles. People who wanted to build their monuments with Portuguese tiles always tried to relate them to the building’s history. For example, if a priest were to order some tiles for his chapel, he would ask that saints be featured on them. The “final product” would present various titles that basically formed a painting.
The tile culture of Portuguese “azulejos” is something no visitor to Portugal can fail to notice. Tiles are everywhere and are used with an exuberance that is matched nowhere else in Europe. Tiles are widely used in and on churches, public buildings, shops and houses and they show an enormous variety of designs and pictorial images (Lemmen, 2019). Tiles are a huge part of Portuguese history and the two are really are inseparable. Portuguese tiles come in many forms and are made of ceramic and are painted and glazed to withstand weather and wear. However, these are not just simple tiles, they are a huge part of Portuguese culture and traditions. The technical aspect around the production of tiles is very specific and its main characteristic is the longevity it offers to the final product, which is why 12
In Portugal, most of the tiles you find, combine the colours white and blue. These predominant colours were considered very fashionable at the time of the Age of Discoveries (from the 15th to the 18th centuries). They are also associated with oriental porcelain and have a Dutch influence (Delft blue). Plus, the blue colour was seen as a synonym of power and wealth, which is why you can easily find them on important monuments all over the country. The first tiles’ factory dates the 18th century and was build in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital. Since then, the process has been conserved as much as possible, always preserving its tradition and the method associated with it. Most of the Portuguese tiles are square and thin, in order to be used to decorate the walls of buildings. The tiles are baked in an oven and its outer part is glazed afterwards so that they can be painted by the artists. This glazing makes them waterproof, in order to resist any environmental conditions. Portuguese tiles are so important and a major part of Portugal’s culture that we have our own dedicated museum for them: The National Tile Museum, in Lisbon.
Initially, Portuguese tiles were used inside most buildings. As they were only bought by wealthy families, it is understandable that they didn’t use them outside as much. Over time, the tendency was to use them in every building’s construction, so it is possible to see them almost everywhere. The decoration itself depends on the artist, or the architect and constructor of the building, since you can decorate a house with equal, coloured designs or pieces of art. That being said, most people build patterns and decorate their houses in a very geometrical design. However, as you can also tell a story, it is very common to see detailed murals depicted on churches and monasteries. For example, the images on this page show a church in the centre of Porto (north of Portugal), known as Igreja do Carmo and a close up (top) of its hand-painted tiles. It is only one example of how much of a detailed story you can tell using Portuguese tiles. These type of paintings are very “church typical” as they depict Biblical passages and illustrate them as specifically as possible. Back in the day, only wealthy people would have access to the Bible, so painting tiles was the way the Church related to the masses (Santos, L 2019).
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Tessellation All tiles must follow a process known as “tessellation�. It is the technique of tiling a surface with no overlaps or gaps with regular geometrical shapes (polygons). There are many ways to tile a surface using different regular polygons. Azulejos in Portugal use only two kinds of tessellations, the rectangle and prominently the square tessellation. In this chapter, you will see and understand how easy it is to create a tessellation!
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Square Tessellation Tiling a surface using square-sized tiles.
A squared-sized azulejo
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A square tessellation using four squared azulejos 17
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Square tessellation comprised of different azulejos 23
Rectangle Tessellation Tiling a surface using rectangular-sized tiles.
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Rectangular-shaped azulejos are less popular tiles in Portugal. As you can see on the right, rectangular tiles are often tiled with squaredshaped azulejos. Rarely on their own.
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Making square or rectangle tessellations with azulejos is quite straightfoward and easy to apply in practice. When making a tessellation three simple rules need to be applied: 1. The tessellation must tile a surface with no overlaps or gaps. 2. The tiles must be regular polygons and all the same. 3. Each vertex must look the same. A vertex is the common endpoint where the edges of tiles meet. The photograph above with the yellow cross demonstrates where a vertex can be found within a square tessellation. Patterned and illustrative azulejos, for instance on churches or the well known decorated walls of the SĂŁo Bento Railway Station (right) are tiled using the rules of tessellation. Azulejos that are meant to create patterns when tiled are designed with symmetry. There are three ways to create symmetry with tiles: reflection, rotation and translation. In the next chapter, these approaches in azulejos will be explored. 26
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Reflection Symmetry The simplest symmetry is the reflection symmetry. It is sometimes called the “line symmetry” or “mirror symmetry”. It is easy to see, because one half of the image is the reflection of the other half. When the image is reflected, the reflection has the same size as the original image. In simpler terms, a reflection is a flip over of a central imaginary line. That imaginary line is called the “mirror line”. Mirror lines can be in any direction. Many azulejos utilise the reflection symmetry to create mesmerising patterns.
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The yellow line in this image demonstrates the reflection symmetry that was created for this azulejo. This line shows the mirror effect of this symmetry.
For this particular azulejo, the mirror line could have been placed in four different directions.
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Independently of how intricate images may be to create patterns in azulejos, reflection symmetry is simple to work with.
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Rotational Symmetry
How to create this symmetry will be shown with a few more examples within this chapter.
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In rotational symmetry, the image is rotated (around a central point) so that it appears two or more times. The number of times it appears is called the “order�. The distance from the center to any point on the image stays the same. An image has rotational symmetry when it still looks the same after some rotation (of less than one full turn).
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The yellow cross is the central point. The image in focus is the blue flower motif. When that image is rotated from the central point as shown by the orange arrow, it becomes the green flower.
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Translation Symmetry In geometry, “translation” simply means moving without rotating, resizing or anything else. To “translate” an image, every point of the image must move in the same distance and in the same direction.
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These tiled azulejos shows how translation symmetry works within a tessellation.
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Azulejos Ceramic tiles, from illustrative to patterned tiles can be spotted anywhere in Portugal. They are unmissable to all residents and visitors. The variety of colors and designs on the streets of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, is part of the city’s identity, and there’s always at least one small panel on every corner. The most striking examples are inside the palaces and churches, but there are also true works of art on the façades (Lisbonlux.com, 2019). Having visited Portugal numerous times to see my family, I would recommend anyone who is in that corner of Europe to look up close at the Portuguese tiles and appreciate their beauty and uniqueness. In each individual azulejo holds so much history and design that deserves to be acknowledged. Therefore, if you enjoy art and history, exploring Portuguese tiles into a deeper level is highly recommended.
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For more information on azulejos, visit azulejo.co.uk
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Images, in order of appearance (left to right) Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [image]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019].
References Barnaby, J. (2019). Azulejo – Learning About Portuguese Tiles in the Alentejo. The Discoveries Of. Available from https://www.thediscoveriesof.com/portuguese-azulejos/ [Accessed on 28 February 2019]. Lemmen, H. (2019). Brief History of Tiles. Hans van Lemmen. Available from http://www.hansvanlemmen. co.uk/cv-2/ [Accessed on 27 February 2019]. Lisbonlux.com. (2019). Lisbon’s 10 Most Beautiful Tiled Façades. Lisbon Lux. Available from https://www. lisbonlux.com/magazine/the-10-most-beautifully-tiledfacades-in-lisbon/ [Accessed on 02 March 2019]. Santos, L. (2019) Portuguese Tiles: A Part of Portugal’s Colourful and Ancient History. Be Portugal. Available from https://beportugal.com/portuguese-tiles/ [Accessed on 04 April 2019]. Santos, N. (2019). A Brief History of Portugal’s Beautiful Azulejo Tiles. Culture Trip. Available from https:// theculturetrip.com/europe/portugal/articles/a-briefhistory-of-portugals-beautiful-azulejo-tiles/ [Accessed on 1 March 2019].
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Pages 2-3 Concierge.2C. (2011). Lamego - Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios - Azulejos na escadaria. [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Lamego_-_Santu%C3%A1rio_de_Nossa_Senhora_ dos_Rem%C3%A9dios_-_Azulejos_na_escadaria_(1).jpg [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [images]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Pages 4-5 LBM1948. (2012). Lisboa, azulejos. [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lisboa,_ azulejos_1.jpg [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Pages 6-7 AL-MUT. (2013). Roseta, Portugal. [image] Available from https://pixabay.com/pt/photos/roseta-portugal-sintracastelo-1576534/ Pages 8-9 Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [images]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Page 10 Radziem. (2010). Fragment-bramy-isztar. [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?curid=10621958 [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Roberts, K. (2007). FaienceInlaysFromStepPyramid MuseumOfFineArtsBoston. [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Djoser-FaienceInlaysFromStepPyramid_ MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png [Accessed 02 April 2019].
Pages 16-19 Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [images]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Pages 20-21 Castro, A. (2016). Azulejos. [images].
Jnzl’s Photos. (2013). Terracotta tiles and green eaves on roof of Hong San See. [image]. Available from https://www. flickr.com/photos/surveying/11698614116 [Accessed 02 April 2019].
Pages 22-23 Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [images]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019].
Page 12 Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [image]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019].
Pages 24-26 Castro, A. (2016). Azulejos. [images].
Page 13 Otourly. (2010). Igreja do Carmo (Porto). [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:14._Igreja_do_Carmo_(Porto).JPG [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Sousa, M. (2006). Igrejas Carmelitas Carmo (Porto). [image]. Available from https://pt.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Ficheiro:Igrejas_Carmelitas_Carmo_(Porto).JPG [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Page 14 Pinheiro, R. (1905-1906). Gafanhoto e Espiga. [image]. Available from https://museubordalopinheiro.pt/item/ painel-de-azulejos-padrao-e-de-cercadura-gafanhoto-eespiga/ [Accessed 02 April 2019].
Page 27 Palickap. (2017). SĂŁo Bento Station. [image]. Available from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Porto,_S%C3%A3o_Bento_station_(4).jpg [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Pages 28-59 Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [images]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019]. Cover Hox, R. (2011). Azulejos Portugueses. [image]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rh2ox/ albums/72157629191355220 [Accessed 02 April 2019].
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