Trencadís

Dragon at the entrance of park Güell overlooking Barcelona.

Trencadís (Catalan pronunciation: [tɾəŋkəˈðis]) is a type of mosaic used in Catalan modernism, created from broken tile shards. The technique is also called pique assiette. This mosaic is done using broken pieces of ceramic, like tiles and cups, for instance.

The Catalan architects Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol used trencadís in many projects, among which Barcelona's Parc Güell is probably the most famous.

Modernist architects did an extensive use of ceramics, but Antoni Gaudí propose an unconventional method. He covered his three-dimensional architecture with glazed ceramics of different shapes and colours which created brightly coloured patterns dancing together under the Mediterranean light. For the task, he used discarded pieces of ceramic tiles collected from the factory "Pujol i Bausis" located in Esplugues de Llobregat, and pieces of white ceramic from broken cups and plates discarded by other Spanish manufacturers.

The technique was used for the first time at the Güell Pavilions where the complex architecture forced him to brake the tiles where he couldn’t use an entire square one.

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  A figure in Park Güell

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  Casa Batlló roof

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  Sagrada Familia detail.