‘Tribute to Josep Llobet Gelmà’

An account of the Talks That Matter tribute to the architect Josep Llobet Gelmà, with Esteve Bonell, Josep Maria Gil, Josep Llinàs, Sergi Serra and Jaume Prat.

EventsTalks That Matter3 of 144 Dec 20184 min read

Talks that Matter: ‘Tribute to Josep Llobet Gelmà’

Thank you to everyone who joined us on 17 May 2018 for our Talks That Matter session in tribute to the architect Josep Llobet Gelmà (1960–2013). Under the title ‘Delicacy in the details’, the session brought together at Matter Barcelona five architects who had shared an office, work, teaching or friendship with him: Esteve Bonell, Josep Maria Gil, Josep Llinàs, Sergi Serra and Jaume Prat.

We were able to remember his work and his way of working in a moving tribute, surrounded by his family, friends, colleagues, teachers, students, clients, acquaintances and admirers of his work. In this account we look at who Josep Llobet was, what each speaker said and how the day ended.

Josep Llobet Gelmà, an architect of detail

Born in Barcelona and a graduate of the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB), Josep Llobet worked for twelve years, from 1986 to 1998, in the office of Esteve Bonell and Josep Maria Gil, and also worked with Eduard Bru, Mitjans-Gascón, Francesc Ríu and Jordi Romeu, according to the note published by the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC) after his death on 10 September 2013, aged 52.

His work spans very different typologies: single-family houses, interior design, cultural facilities and refurbishment. In his last years he restored some of the most notable works of Josep Maria Jujol, on whom he also carried out research: he led the refurbishment project for the Torre de la Creu in Sant Joan Despí (2005), which became the COAC’s seat in Baix Llobregat, restored the Casa Negre in the same town (2011) and curated the exhibition ‘Jujol, fragmentos y transformaciones’ (Jujol, fragments and transformations) at the COAC (2006).

Work	Place	Year	Note
Torre de la Creu (refurbishment)	Sant Joan Despí	2005	Work by Jujol; refurbishment project
Xamfrà del Fòrum restaurant	Tarragona	2005	Interior design, opposite the Roman Forum
L'Atlàntida, Centre d'Arts Escèniques d'Osona	Vic	2005–2010	With Josep Llinàs, Pedro Ayesta and Laia Vives
Casa Negre (restoration)	Sant Joan Despí	2011	Work by Jujol
Casa C+G	Supermaresme, Sant Vicenç de Montalt	2011	Single-family house, 686 m² built

Some of the works by Josep Llobet Gelmà mentioned in this article.

Five perspectives on his work

Each talk approached Josep from a different relationship.

Esteve Bonell and Josep Maria Gil: architects, heads of the office where Josep worked between 1986 and 1998.
Josep Llinàs: architect, co-author with Josep of L'Atlàntida in Vic.
Sergi Serra: architect, teaching colleague and friend.
Jaume Prat: architect, author of the photographs of Casa C+G published in the COAM’s Arquitectura magazine.

Esteve Bonell and Josep Maria Gil: the years in the office

In the first talk, Esteve Bonell and Josep Maria Gil spoke about the time Josep worked in their office and about the precision and detail of his hand drawing.

Speaker with a microphone beside a screen projecting a black-and-white photograph of a work team — Archive photographs projected during one of the tribute’s talks.

Josep Llinàs: sobriety, elegance and honesty

The architect Josep Llinàs spoke about the similarity he saw between Josep Llobet’s work and the films of the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki: sober, elegant, austere and honest work. Together with Pedro Ayesta and Laia Vives, the two designed L'Atlàntida, the Osona performing arts centre in Vic, built between 2005 and 2010, which brings together a theatre, an auditorium and a music school.

Four speakers seated in front of the timber panels at Matter Barcelona, one of them holding a microphone and papers — The speakers during one of the talks.

Sergi Serra: the teacher and the friend

The architect Sergi Serra spoke about the relationship he shared with Josep as a teacher and friend, teaching architecture students at ETSAB and La Salle. His words highlighted Josep’s qualities as a person, colleague and professional, and he accompanied them with images of the two of them in different architectural spaces.

Speaker in glasses talking into a microphone, seated beside another attendee in front of an illuminated shelf — One of the talks, in front of the material shelves at Matter.

Jaume Prat: the house in Supermaresme

Finally, Jaume Prat looked in depth at the house in Supermaresme, a home designed by Josep and full of details, in which light, orientation, proportion, place, function and comfort play an essential role.

In that residential estate in Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Josep designed Casa C+G, completed in 2011 and published in the COAM’s Arquitectura magazine with photographs by Jaume Prat himself: a house integrated into the adjoining pine wood, with an interior courtyard of concrete, steel and stone and the programme organised on the upper floor to capture the views and the orientation.

Screen with a projected axonometric drawing and speakers seated by the window at Matter Barcelona — Drawings projected during the session.

The Alejandro de la Sota special award

During the event, the special Alejandro de la Sota award in the interior design category was presented to his family by Juan Manuel Zaguirre, culture board member of the Tarragona Branch of the Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya.

The COAC’s Tarragona Branch created this award in 2017, with the Fundación Alejandro de la Sota, to mark twenty years of its Architecture Biennial: it recognised the best work in each category among those awarded over the ten editions held between 1997 and 2017. Josep’s Xamfrà del Fòrum restaurant in Tarragona had been recognised at the Mostres d'Arquitectura del Camp de Tarragona in the Interior Design and Ephemeral Installations category.

A man hands a framed diploma to another in front of the shelves at Matter — Presentation of the Alejandro de la Sota special award.

A gathering of colleagues

We were able to see images of Josep’s projects and, finally, share an aperitif all together.

Attendees talking during the aperitif after the tribute — The aperitif that closed the tribute at Matter.

Two attendees talk closely during the aperitif — The aperitif that closed the tribute at Matter.

It was a moving and well-deserved tribute to Josep Llobet Gelmà.

Talks That Matter is our series of meetings to talk about architecture, interior design and materials with the people who make them possible. Book your visit to Matter to discover our Materioteca and talk about the materials for your next project.