History of the Blacksmith March
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, there was a resurgence of forging in Catalonia thanks to Modernism. In this context is where the history of the March Blacksmith workshop begins. Since 1903.
1884
Antoni March Volart was born in 1884. At only 11 years old, he entered the wrought iron workshop of Mr. Esteban Casellas. At the age of 14, he went to Barcelona to learn the blacksmith trade at Taller Ballarín, one of the most important and representative of the time. This workshop had several partners. One of them was the architect Puig i Cadafalch, a prominent figure of Catalan Modernism.
Antoni March starts working in the artistic section, where he will be there until he is 20 years old.
1904
In 1904, March bought the workshop of Mr. Esteban Casellas, where his career had begun. It is at this moment that the history of Serralleria March begins to be forged: a tradition that will continue from generation to generation.
1929
1946
The third generation of Serralleria March, embodied by Rafel Codina March, was born in Mataró in 1946. Rafel Codina begins the blacksmith’s trade at the age of fifteen with his grandfather (Antoni March) and his uncle (Joaquim March).
Rafel Codina studies artistic drawing with Jordi Arenas; renowned draftsman, painter and sculptor from Mataró, who is considered one of the most famous and prestigious artists in the city.
1990
Rafel Codina went to work in the Serralleria March workshop in 1962. In 1993 he took full charge of the workshop, and especially of the administrative and artistic part. This same year, he won the Puig i Cadafalch Award from Mataró City Council for the best projects of the year.
In 1985 he became part of the permanent craft center of the Generalitat de Catalunya, collaborating and participating in various wrought iron samples and exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His work has been recognized several times with different awards and distinctions.
1983
In 1983, Pol Codina Font, the son of Rafel Codina March, was born, and with him the fourth generation that will take over Serralleria March emerges.
Blacksmith and sculptor, studies the Higher Degree in Industrial Design at the Massana School in Barcelona. He began learning artistic forging in the workshop with his father Rafel as a teacher. From that moment on, he began a personal search for the plastic language of iron and metals.
The most recent public work can be seen at the roundabout of the N-II access to the town of St Andreu de Llavaneres.
Apart from artistic concerns, Codina feels a certain responsibility towards the craft and its transmission and awareness towards society due to its loss, it is for this reason that for years he has participated in the meetings of blacksmiths that it is carried out throughout the territory. It is part of ACUNÇ (Association of Blacksmiths of Besalú) and is a member of AFOC (Associació de Forjadors de Catalunya)
1900
At this time, he met the architect Lluís Bonet i Garí, Gaudí’s last disciple, and one of those in charge of continuing the Sagrada Família Cathedral project in Barcelona, with whom he formed a friendship.
1913
In 1913, Antoni March’s second son, Joaquim March and Banqué, was born. At just 13 years old, he began to learn the trade, receiving lessons from the architect Lluís Bonet i Garí, thanks to the friendship that united him with his father.
At just 17 years old, he already demonstrates impressive technical and artistic ability, designing a wrought iron clock. Only a year later, he designs and forges the dragon that currently presides over the facade of Serralleria March.
In 1968, with the death of Antoni March, Joaquim became the owner of the workshop.
In 1986, Joaquim was recognized with the Charter of Master Blacksmith, granted by the Guild of Locksmiths and Ferrers of Catalonia.
1931
At this time, the market expands outside borders. Customers from France, Germany and the United States are interested in ordering jobs from Serralleria March.
1976
2010
In 2004, Codina March won the Puig i Cadafalch Award for architecture.
In 2006 the Generalitat de Catalunya granted him the Master Artisan certificate and in 2008 he received the award from the Pelfort i Xinxo Foundation of Barcelona of friends of the country to the Master Blacksmith.
Rafel Codina is a very creative and innovative person. He works with iron with a high artistic, professional and personal quality. Traditional techniques do not prevent him from looking for new forms and creations. In fact, he always looks for exactly what the client wants, creating unique and personal shapes for each project.
A lifetime dedicated to art, especially forging, endorses him as one of the best forging artists in Catalonia.
2007
Pol Codina manages the current March Blacksmith business, after having to forcibly close the workshop and former locksmiths’ house in Mataró, he begins a new phase in the town of Argentona.
With great effort and dedication, he embodies in his works all the knowledge accumulated in these years. The traditional techniques handed down from father to son learned from previous generations are the legacy and identity of this house.
As each generation has done with forging, a search in his works and designs, looking for his own, personal style that distinguishes him from the rest of blacksmiths.
Since his beginnings in the profession in 2005, his artistic creativity has not stopped investigating the expression of the plasticity of metals. He holds several individual and group exhibitions, of which we can highlight those in 2010 at the Monjo Museum in Vilassar de Mar or in 2013 at the Llavaneres Archive Museum, that same year he made the poster for Les Santes, the city’s popular festival from Mataró
In commemoration for the 150 years of Aigües de Vilassar, SLU. realizes the sculptural work ‘The Enchanted Woman’ located on Av. by the architect Eduard Ferrés de Vilassar de Mar.
In commemoration for the 150 years of Aigües de Vilassar, SLU. realizes the sculptural work ‘The Enchanted Woman’ located on Av. by the architect Eduard Ferrés de Vilassar de Mar.