Tribute to Joan Antoni Blanc 1940-2024
Joan Antoni Blanc formed part of the group of intellectuals, designers and artists who founded Eina in 1967. He was primarily responsible for the furnishings in the school, where he was also a professor of Design Projects and Morphology.
In his Notes for a history of Eina, Albert Ràfols Casamada gave a detailed description about the preparation of the old Dolçet building, at the foot of the Vallvidrera Funicular, in order to start classes for the 1967-1968 academic year: “As to the furnishings, Joan Antoni Blanc played an essential role. He designed an iron leg for tables that could be easily disassembled and stacked, which made it much easier to fit students into the school’s classrooms.”
Eina donates a set of easels to the collections of the Barcelona Design Museum.
1969, Transformation of the classroom into a giant model. Semiological study of the Travessera de Gràcia.
Oriol Pibernat, a professor and former director of the school, wrote in Eina Fact Sheet no. 21 (2003): “As is evident, the beginnings of Eina were marked both by the dream of the project and by the precarious nature of what was available, as explained by Joan Antoni Blanc, who took advantage of the contact he had with a carpentry company in Tortosa, IMSA, to provide the panels – a sufficiently stable and light structure – that would act as table tops. At the same time, Blanc had a metalworker manufacture iron tube easels with a simple and effective design with two horizontal bars on which the table top rested and legs that formed a small arch that held the wood on its upper part.
1980, ‘Tribute to the square. Interaction of colour’ is an exhibition in tribute to Josef Albers that was held at Eina in collaboration with the German Institute of Culture in Barcelona.
He was also responsible for the ceiling lights, some plastic injection screens, obtained from Delta d'Or 1968, and the shelves in the library and secretary’s office, all produced by Tramo.”
1973, “Visual Poetry.” The exhibition is the result of the research work of the Contemporary Art seminar taught by Maria Lluïsa Borràs. It was inaugurated at the Eina headquarters and then at the Dalla bookstore.
The design was so versatile that it made it possible to hold many exhibitions and installations. The table tops were lined with different materials (white paper, black plastic, etc.) and, when placed vertically, they were transformed into windbreaks.
1973, “International Postal Exhibition” held on the occasion of the World Communication Congress at the Sala Vinçon.
Joan Antoni Blanc was one of the main proponents of incorporating technological knowledge into Eina and aiming design towards industrial applications.
Lecture series by Joan Antoni Blanc, 1981.