Azulejos – Portugese Tiles
Tiles exist all around the world, but in Portugal they glisten under the Mediterranean sun, adorning almost every building inside and out, in the most mesmerising way. The patterns and colours drew me in, I wondered how and why they were made and I knew I had to learn more about this art.
In 2019 I set out to explore Porto, a city where some of the oldest tile factories once stood. From taking a tile research tour, walking the streets, perpetually looking up, taking a million photos to hand drawing, painting and producing a beautiful polished stone — an azulejo (see my tile above).
Banco de Materiais in Porto – a haven for rescuing, preserving and documenting the incredible history of Portugals tiles.
I learnt that the process to make a single azulejo can be quite tedious — achieving smooth brush strokes takes A LOT of practice even with a steady hand! The intensity of the colours is hard to gauge as well. You cannot be sure of the outcome until after the tiles have been fired. To think these were individually hand-painted in thousands. My appreciation for the art only grew tenfold.
Although azulejos are a rich part of Portugal’s heritage, they are a severely vandalised and disappearing art. Many tiles are chipped away and sold on the black market, some are even lost to demolition to make way to new bland buildings. But there seems to be a great initiative by locals and city councils to raise awareness, protect and preserve what’s left.
