Erwin Heilbronner: the 'Fundamental Type' in Ibiza, 1935-1936

This article will study the research work done on the rural architecture by Erwin Heilbronner during his stay in Ibiza. After his contact with the Central European circles of art and architecture, the German architect and painter found in Ibiza something more than a refuge. Once arrived and installed, Heilbronner started to visit the rural areas of the Balearic Island, always carrying his camera and notebook, making an exhaustive analysis of the peasant houses scattered throughout the territory. His graphic, photographic(partly unpublished) and written discourse about the island's rural architecture, can be considered as one of the first typological studies on this particular Mediterranean architecture in modern terms. Based in the reference to some of the theories on typology written during the 19th, 20th and 21th Century by Quincy, Argan, Rossi, Moneo, Forty,... this article seeks to assess the value of Heilbronner's contribution between 1935 and 1936.