During the 1930s several Spanish architects linked to the Modern Movement found in the popular and rural architecture of the Mediterranean links to modernity. Engaged in the research and development of new approaches that could respond to the needs of their time, the architects Josep Torres Clavé, Josep Lluís Sert and other fellows of the GATEPAC travelled to Ibiza, Andalucía and Levante documenting a number of examples of these popular, rural, white architectures.
The result of these journeys would be reflected in several issues of the magazine A.C.: Documentos de Actividad Contemporánea, editorial board of the Spanish group of modern architects. The 21st number of the magazine was the last to address the Mediterranean subject and prove to be the framework for this research. Two unique articles on the rural architecture of Ibiza were published in this issue; signed by Raoul Hausmann and Erwin Heilbronner. Both documents, contribute to establish a debate around the idea of Mediterranean-inspired modernity, in which Sert and Torres Clavé, were involved —almost unconsciously— from his time at the School of Architecture. Their journeys, as students, across Italy (1927) and Europe (1928), as well as Le Corbusier's visit to Barcelona (1928) —with whom they re-discovered Sitges— are presented as an interesting background on this odyssey of Spanish architects towards a new architecture.
The objective of this research is to unveil the different approaches of these architects and artists, focused on the popular and rural architecture of the Mediterranean, through the study of the original travel documents, assessing their background, and paying attention to their careers.