When Gabriel Huguet opened his factory in Campos in 1933, he could never
left to cure. Visitors to Huguet can see this
architecture in Barcelona, Biel witnessed
fascinating process in action in the workshop
a more positive tourism impact: “The large
have imagined that its products would become
next to the showroom.
number of Japanese tourists who came for the
the choice of prestigious international architects
1992 Olympic Games paid a lot of attention
and designers and win numerous awards.
to Gaudí (who used a lot of cement tiles)
Huguet was then one of five factories in the village (and one of around a hundred in Mallorca) making cement-based tiles, sinks, beams, and blocks. With almost no road between Campos and the nearest town of
“This traditional craft almost died out during the tourist boom of the 1960s”
Llucmajor, deliveries were made by cart to
traditional architecture began. In 1996, a more worldly Biel came home to Campos to take over the family business from his sick father. An elderly man from Huguet’s early years taught him what he remembered
local customers. What was made in Campos, stayed in Campos.
and Modernism.” A renewed appreciation for
about making cement tiles, which was Supply couldn’t match the burgeoning demand
supplemented by Biel’s research and contacts
for tiles for new tourist hotels. Better-paid
in
The 19th-century British mason Joseph
jobs in the hospitality sector depleted the
“We blended traditional and contemporary
Aspdin’s invention of Portland cement had
artisan workforce and Mallorca’s improved
knowledge.”
revolutionized
infrastructure made it easier to import mass-
the
construction
industry.
“One spin-off was the hydraulic tile,” says Biel
produced ceramic tiles from Valencia.
Huguet, the founder’s visionary grandson, who
technical
architecture
in
Barcelona.
Biel says Huguet survived in the late ‘90s because of the foreigners who came to
has run the company for the past twenty-
With their new tourism-generated wealth,
buy homes on the island. “These people
three years.
many Mallorcans wanted modern materials
appreciated traditional Mallorcan architecture
– such as linoleum, carpets, and aluminium
and wanted something authentic.”
From
traditional
Mallorcan
to
– for their homes. “Most of the traditional
striking contemporary designs, these tiles are
factories closed or adapted their portfolio,”
In 2019, sustainability is one of Biel’s most
still handcrafted by artisans today. Cement is
Biel says, adding that his father focused on
important considerations and Huguet is
mixed with water and an aggregate, coloured
manufacturing beams and blocks.
working on accreditation. “My grandfather
as required using natural pigments, poured into the appropriate mould, pressed, and then
28
used sand from Es Trenc beach as an
Studying for his degree in technical
aggregate, but recycled marble dust – waste
