Jordi Tell, arquitecte i activista republicà
Jordi Tell, arquitecte i activista republicà
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Jordi Tell, arquitecte i activista republicà

Safeguarding and destruction of heritageProcesses of patrimonialization and uses of patrimonyCOMPETITIVE PROJECTS

Jordi Tell, architect and republican activist

Funding entity 

Generalitat de Catalunya. Department of Governance and Institutional Relations. General Directorate of Institutional Relations and with Parliament. General Sub-Directorate of Memory, Peace and Human Rights.

Researcher: Dr. Gemma Domènech

Description

Documentary research project and fieldwork around the figure of Jordi Tell Novellas (Barcelona, ??1907 – Fredrikstad, Norway, 1991). Architect graduated from the School of Barcelona in 1931 and participant in the renovationist movement led by Josep Lluís Sert, he spent most of his life away from Catalonia. His political activism in the Catalan Nationalist Party and his participation in the October Events of 1934 led to his first exile in Berlin, which began a journey of no return to Catalonia. Settled in Oslo after the civil war, he participated in the Norwegian resistance against the German occupation and, later, his political exodus took him to Mexico. A personal turn that meant the temporary abandonment of the profession and the beginning of a diplomatic career in the service of the government of the Spanish Republic. First as consul in Hamburg (1936), then as chargé d’affaires in Oslo (1938) and finally as representative of the Republic in Exile in the Nordic Countries (1946). A diplomatic career that he abandoned after Spain joined the UN. Settled again in Norway, he resumed his career as an architect without ever abandoning political activism. The defense of the rights of Catalonia kept him active from Estat Català but, at the same time, he became linked to his adopted country, militant and participating in the regional government of Østfold County with the SosialistiskFolkeparti (Socialist People’s Party of Norway).

The documentary research and fieldwork undertaken so far have allowed us to locate some early architectural works that reveal him as a top-notch professional and that push us to continue working to establish the complete catalogue of works. Likewise, a first survey of the archive of the Spanish University Foundation allows us to sense the relevance of the role that Jordi Tell played in organizing aid for Republican refugees after the war.

The present project aims to delve deeper into documentary research with the intention of publishing a monograph that allows us to recover for the collective memory the life trajectory of a man who remained faithful to democratic principles despite the adversity of the conditions. A loyalty to the Republic and to the values ??that it represents that meant persecution, imprisonment, exile and finally oblivion from history.