Entre - Pisos. Estudio de un elemento arquitectónico: La baldosa hidráulica de Bucaramanga y Barranquilla 1880 – 1930

Abstract

The challenge of this research is to understand how the analysis of the graphic design of the hydraulic tile of the Republican period in Colombia, allows us to make a contribution to the understanding of strategies in the composition of an architectural element; Through an exploratory method hydraulic tiles are studied under the historical, technical, and graphic - composition phases in Bucaramanga and Barranquilla housing; this allowed to relate the formal operations of the graphic composition of the tiles with stages in the development of the mosaics from the patterns of a module and a series of movements in invisible structures. It was also shown how an imported material took the graphic features of the context in which it was installed, and quickly integrated itself into the architectural language of the moment allowing today to reconstruct a fragment of collective memory in these two cities of the country. At the same time the process and the importance of the trade as a fundamental part in the conservation of craft knowledge in the production of tiles is recognized.