Joan Martorell

Who was Joan Martorell?

Joan Martorell i Montells was a Catalan architect and designer. He was an uncle of the architect Bernardí Martorell i Puig.

Martorell worked in the styles of historicism and Gothic Revival. His Gothic style was influenced by French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and English architect William Butterfield. He was known for his restoration work on Gothic churches, and worked with the Archdiocese of Barcelona on its properties. One of his most notable works is the Church of the Salesas in Barcelona, completed in 1885, which combined Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival and the indigenous Mudéjar architectural styles. In Comillas, Spain, he designed the Palacio de Sobrellano, and the Capilla Panteón de los Marqueses de Comillas, and helped design the Universidad Pontificia with Lluís Domènech i Montaner.

Martorell is also known for his later work in the Catalan school of Modernisme, and for his relationships with his contemporary Modernisme architects, especially his protégé Antoni Gaudí. He was a professor and later an employer of Gaudí. Martorell taught Gaudí graphic statics, an important engineering technique that Gaudi frequently used to create vaulted ceilings without the use of buttresses.