José Rostoll Bru has been selected by the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation and INTBAU Spain as master craftsperson of the month for December 2025.
José Rostoll preserves the age-old craft of the barraquero, dedicated to the construction of traditional barracas and granaries (cebera) in the Huerta of Valencia. To do so, he uses a limited set of materials: wood, reeds, and borró.
In the construction of a barraca, orientation is the first aspect to consider, as it allows the building to benefit from sunlight while protecting it from prevailing winds. Traditionally, the foundations were made of sun-dried adobe (fang i pallús), while the structural frame was built entirely of wood. The roofing system began with a base layer of reeds (senill) and was completed through the weaving of borró, a type of espartine grass previously harvested with a corbella or sickle.
You can discover more about his work and activity in his profile in the Spanish Network of Traditional Building Crafts Masters:
