Panot

Panot (transl. flagstone) is a type of outdoor cement tile and the associated paving style, both found in Barcelona. Panot tiles are usually small and square, and feature graphic designs pertaining to the neighbourhoods of the city which they pave. The panot tiles designed by Antoni Gaudí are hexagonal.

Etymology

The name panot derives from the French panneau, specifically the purpose that refers to cement slabs.^[1]

History

Barcelona began paving its streets in the 17th century,^[2] and by the end of the 18th century this was closely regulated.^[3] Streets – for both vehicular and pedestrian usage – were paved with cobblestones. Up to the modern day, several of Barcelona's vehicle roads are cobbled.^[4] As the city experienced the Modernisme movement and rapid expansion, paving tiles with artistic as well as practical function began to be used, including mosaic pavement designed by Pere Falqués on the Passeig de Lluís Companys for the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition.^[5] Interior flooring had once used small terracotta tiles, but in the late 19th century also developed, with many buildings using ceramic tiles.^[6]

Until the early 20th century, paving the street outside of private properties was the responsibility of the owners, but the material was prescribed by the city: expensive Montjuïc stone. Residents could apply for construction permits if they wanted to use other materials; with some adhering and others not paving due to the cost, the streets of Eixample were uneven and messy. In 1891, paving company Escofet became the first to offer outdoor panot tiles as an alternative, and as early as 1895 had asked for the city to approve use of such tiles en masse. In 1906 the city decided to take over the process and tendered for 18 tile designs and production of 10,000 m² (110,000 sq ft) of tiles (without specifying dimensions of individual tiles). To make the project affordable, the city opted to use cheap hydraulic cement tiles, which some residents had already done; at the time, Catalonia was a big cement producer, including for artistic purposes, with the industry seeking to expand. Following complaints from the industry that 18 was too many designs to produce, the city chose five designs. A few of these were labeled with street names, so may have already been in use in those locations.^[7]

The tender was won by Ramon Escober, who was awarded 42,000 pesetas and gave the production rights to Escofet.^[7] In 2010, around 5,000,000 m² (54,000,000 sq ft) of Barcelona streets were panot tiled.^[7]

Designs

Flor de Barcelona

For many years it was commonly believed that the Flor de Barcelona was a design by Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, the same as used in floor tiles for the Casa Amatller, with visual differences in the two attributed to the wear experienced by the Casa Amatller tiles. Restoration of the building in 2013 and historical document research published in 2018 revealed that the Flor de Barcelona design was not recorded before the 1906 tender; it may have been in use by some individuals before then, but was not Puig i Cadalfach's, in which a deep relief four-leaf design is completely chiseled out of the stone (rather than a flower shallowly outlined). The nature of the Casa Amatller's tiles being inside allowed for such a design, which would accumulate rainwater if outside like the flor de Barcelona panot. The research suggested that the flor de Barcelona may be inspired by the Casa Amatller tiles, but with practical differences and no documentation, the design cannot be attributed to Puig i Cadalfach.^[7]

The Flor de Barcelona panot is particularly widespread and has become a symbol of Barcelona, including as a popular tattoo design.^[8]

Panot Gaudí

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