Decorated ceramic tiles used in Catalan Modernist Architecture (c.1870 to c.1925): Composition, decay and conservation

• Decorated ceramic tiles used in Catalan Modernist Architecture.
• Ceramic tiles: composition, decay and conservation.
• Ceramic tiles used by architects such as Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig-Cadafalch among others.

Ceramic tiles used in many Catalan Modernist buildings (c.1870 to c.1925) by architects such as Antoni Gaudí, Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch among others are studied scientifically. More than 40 samples, specially selected from all the different types of ceramic tiles used, were studied in detail. XRD and SEM–EDS analyses were carried out to characterize the mineral composition and textural morphology of the paste, interface and glaze of the samples studied. These data will be used as a base for understanding better the decay and behaviour of tiles found in modernist buildings. As most Catalan Modernist buildings are now under restoration, the conservation and replacement of pieces has become an important subject of debate; thus the decay processes are analysed and the restoration protocols exposed.