Textiles in Catalonia

During 2010 I began some personal projects. One of these projects was an ambitious drawing project documenting 'The Effects of the Textile Industry on Catalan Society'; a natural interest of mine, working as a textile designer.; drawing factories from the eara of the Catalan industrial revolution; 'utopian' workers' colonies of the 1800's; the cheap housing estates built in the seventies to accommodate the influx of workers brought from the south during the textile 'boom'; the closed down factories of the recent past & present and contemporary textile giants like Inditex.

My first stop was at the utopian workers' town of Colonia Güell. Brain child of Gaudi's patron, the industrialist Count Eusebi de Güell. Above is a drawing of the entrance to the Gaudi designed crypt, the drawing below was drawn inside the building.

Some photos of the village:

A photo taken from the limits of Colonia Güell, looking to the neighboring modern village:



The Church drawings do not say much about the impact of the textile industry on society (other than the church it's self would probably not exist without the funding from textile profits) but, like most personal projects, the subjects are prone to change.
The drawing below for example is of the ruin of a castle style mansion that sits beside the road to Colonia Güell. I drew this back in the studio from photos I took of the interior and exterior. I don't know whether or not this building is related to textiles in any way. There is a lot more graffiti and beer bottles in the actual ruin.

The drawing at the rough stage. Above is a drawing of a female glow worm I found outside the ruin.