* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
In the beautiful town of Selva de Mar, at the foot of the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, in Alt Empordà, there is another possible work by Gustave Eiffel, the famous engineer of the well-known Eiffel Tower in Paris.
It is inside an old oil mill that, over time, has had several modernizations, including one from the beginning of the 20th century, in which the roof was reinforced with beams between railings typical of the buildings of the famous engineer. French.
Thanks to its innovative design at that time, it allowed, with less metal, to support the same weight of the roof. It is the fourth writing that I have written in The Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia as a historian on works attributed to the engineer Gustave Eiffel and his construction company that, throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century, carried out numerous creations by our lands, leaving over time a legacy to the history of engineering and construction.
Two are found in the city of Reus and have in common the set of beams between stripes with rivets and iron columns that support them. The first is in the old carriage garages of the Boule family in Reus and is currently the Espai Boule learning and training center.
The second can be seen on the roof of the old nut warehouse of the Padrell family building and where the Espai Mil Nou art gallery is currently located. These two have been corroborated as true works by Eiffel.
The third, in Figueres, also with beams between stripes and with rivets on the roof with beams that support them, and which would be part of the construction of some old garages located where we now find the current König restaurant on Nou Street, although this work its authorship is not certified as such at present.
The one in the Selva de Mar is a set of four iron beams, three with stripes and one in a single solid piece, all of them with rivets, and as a peculiarity they are placed from wall to wall without iron columns in the middle. that they hold them.
It would be a truly innovative solution for its time to cover the width of a roof only with the beams without the iron columns to support the roof of a space as open as the old oil mill was and that needed a wide space clean of obstacles for the continued work of the machinery and its operators.
These beams are currently preserved in perfect condition and painted in a red color that makes them quite elegant on a visual level. These follow exactly the same style and texture in terms of shapes and materials as the other three, with the characteristic rivets that were used in Eiffel’s constructions, which would lead us to affirm that they would also be true works.
As a result of this empirical comparison we would find ourselves facing a first-class historical discovery in the Alt Empordà, and everything seems to be going in that direction. Currently, Eiffel’s authorship is in the process of certification.
We must also remember the Pont Vermell in the city of Girona, and the Colera railway bridge in Alt Empordà, very close to the Selva de Mar, therefore, the authorship of Eiffel in this Empordà town together with its proximity to France It would become even more solid.
The always timeless art of Eiffel is present today supporting part of the interior ceiling of the current building that is currently undergoing a transformation project into El Trull de La Selva de Mar, an innovative Multispace of Social and Cultural Services that will include exhibitions, meeting spaces , digital services and a popular store with local products. It also houses the Museu de l’Oli with old machinery made in Reus.
What a more relevant fact that now this museum that is located in the old trull within this municipal building will also have a sample of the culture of industrial engineering from the beginning of the 20th century in our Catalan lands.
