The “Barcelona Ceramics” exhibition displayed 20 ceramic pieces with which the School of Architecture at the International University of Catalonia (ESARQ-UIC) commemorated the 10th anniversary of its Ceramic Tile Studies Department.

The exhibition presented proposals developed by students tutored by the Department’s teachers, involving novel formats, designed for new applications in the field of architecture, combining technical rigor with creative emotion.

“Proto-ceramics” was an installation proposal by the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), which consisted of the development of three ceramic models measuring about 1.2 x 1.2 metres in plan-view and 3.6 metres in height, located in the Trans-Hitos centre area. These three models have been developed through research based on applying three post-forming strategies to the ceramic material (cutting, folding, and bending), under different degrees of complexity.

The first model, based on the cutting technique, consists of vertically setting multiple ceramic pieces with spacing between them. The second model, in which the folding technique was used, is made up of a series of rings consisting of two basic diamond-shaped modules. Each ring contains 8 modules of the same type. The third model, based on the bending technique, consists of several curved boxes piled up on top of each other.

The boxes consist of six ceramic panels: four identical curved side panels and two flat panels for the covers. The curved panels were obtained by cold-bending two ceramic pieces.