Raphael programs
These programs were promoted by the European Union for the safeguarding of the Common Architectural Heritage. They were designed and coordinated by Joan Casadevall, commissioned first by Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella District and later by the Eixample District.
Raphael ’96
The Raphael ’96 program (1996–1999) focused on the Recovery of Baroque Sgraffiti in Ciutat Vella. The cities of Genoa and Prague participated alongside Barcelona, where, out of a census of more than 180 Baroque sgraffiti, nearly fifty were restored using digital straightening (rectification) techniques and conservative intervention. This was the first major grant campaign directed specifically at sgraffito restoration, with a total budget of €360,000. The program’s main contribution was that, for the first time, restoration techniques previously reserved for major monuments were applied to these elements, recovering many sgraffiti that had been invisible until then.
Raphael ’98
Following the success of the Ciutat Vella initiative, the program for Barcelona’s Eixample District was launched, running from 1999 to 2002. In this case, the focus was on the restoration of Art Nouveau (Modernista) sgraffito facades, using exclusively cleaning techniques without the application of film-forming paints. The cities of Brussels, Vienna, and Genoa joined Barcelona in this project. Out of a census of 400 facades, nearly one hundred were restored, and the most successful interventions were identified with an informative plaque. All of them were restored using a dry-cleaning technique that was groundbreaking at the time and is now perfectly established. The program had a budget of €500,000. The results are still visible 25 years later on many facades which, through cleaning alone, revealed their original designs and color schemes. In addition to the cleaning techniques (dry, mixed, laser, or poultices), scientific research was conducted on various protective products and chromatic glazes according to the specific pathologies, with the support of the Applus and LGAI laboratories at the UAB in Bellaterra.
