ACTIVITY
Bernardo López Lozano is a master woodworker, son of the master woodworker Bernardo López Yepes. In the family workshop in Calle Montehermoso (Madrid), in which he still plies the trade, he began at an early age to learn the textures, virtues and traditions of each… variety of wood used there for making doors, windows, furniture, stairs or roofing.
In 1988 he founded the firm TAMAT and also took training in art history so as to undertake restorations of historic woodwork in heritage buildings, one of the fields of his trade in which he most excels.
His workshop specialises in the manufacture, renovation and restoration of woodwork of all shapes and varieties. It makes furniture, exterior and interior woodwork, stairs, timber structures and any other items liable to be made of wood, such as old-style presses, using traditional techniques and tools while also employing some more recent methods and machines.
Always resisting the progressive devaluation of craft trades, he has undertaken a whole range of projects in his time, devoting to them his blend of inherited and acquired expertise.
TRAINING
Bernardo López Lozano entered the trade by learning it as apprentices used to in the old days, from the bottom and with its more thankless tasks. He remembers fetching and carrying, cleaning, the silent servitude to the journeyman and the master, the green flint paper… which ended up taking off his fingerprints after being applied to interminable piles of oak mouldings …
To continue learning, he started a university course in fine art, alternating the theoretical study of form, colour, proportion and finishing with skills with the chisel, handsaw and plane.
His work has been much influenced by the towering figure of André Jacob Roubo, a renowned 18th-century woodworker who may be seen as the quintessential master carpenter. Bernardo appreciates Roubo’s command of drawing and chiselling and his absolute mastery both in technical solutions and in his work’s grace and creativity.
TEACHING
He has disseminated some of his expertise through articles on historical woodwork published in the AITIM journal.
SELECTED WORK
He has done a great range of work, often in iconic heritage buildings, with an output comprising examples of every facet of the woodworker’s trade. These notably include:
– Historic woodwork in the Monastery of El Escorial, in the Congress of Deputies, in the Bank of… Spain, in the Palace of Linares, in the Teatro Español theatre or in the Royal Palace of Madrid
– Constructivist-inspired furniture in the Cuartel de Conde Duque cultural centre (Madrid)
– Chancel furniture at the Cathedral of Segovia
– Bespoke staircases for the Palace of Nuevo Baztán and the Castle of La Coracera
– Restoration of centuries-old woodwork in the Church of San Ginés (Madrid) and in the Convent of Dominican Sisters in Loeches
– Historic floors in Museo Cerralbo and the Convent of San Pascual in Aranjuez
– 17th-century wooden printing presses for Museo de Imprenta Artesanal (Madrid city council and the Cervantes Society)
