90 students create a collaborative artwork inspired by Gaudí

Institut Manuel Blancafort in La Garriga, near Barcelona, hosted a collaborative art project inspired by Antoni Gaudí. More than 90 second-year secondary school students joined a trencadís workshop that brought together learning, craftsmanship and cultural heritage.

Petit Gaudí brought the project to the school, where the project’s artisans guided the educational process and supported the students’ work. The initiative had a title that captured its purpose: “The sum of all the pieces”.

During the sessions, every student created an individual piece. The separate works were then combined into a single mural built from the fragments, colours and choices of the entire group.

Trencadís — the fragmented mosaic technique associated with Gaudí — became a way to experiment, make mistakes, adjust and try again. The students’ curiosity and involvement shaped a process in which no one built the whole work alone.

The finished work was installed at the school itself. The mural remains there as a reminder of collective effort, creativity and the sense of belonging to a school community.

More than a one-off activity, the work shows that arts education can leave something real and visible behind. Every fragment matters, but it is the joining of all the pieces that reveals the complete work.