Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain (2021)

One of the great buildings in Barcelona, Spain, designed by Antoni Gaudí, Casa Batlló – from the outside — looks like it has been made from skulls and bones

“Casa Batlló is one of the two great buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí on Passeig de Gràcia… From the outside the façade of Casa Batlló looks like it has been made from skulls and bones.  The ‘Skulls’ are in fact balconies and the “bones” are supporting pillars.  Gaudí used colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration for his creativity in this building e.g. the colours chosen for the façade are those found in natural coral.

“The building was designed by Gaudí for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat, as an upmarket home. Señor Batlló lived in the lower two floors with his family and the upper floors were rented out as apartments.

“This building is a stunningly original work and well worth the visit.  If you decide to take a look around inside you will learn how much attention to detail Gaudí spent on his designs thinking about such things as varying window size depending on how high the window is from the top of the building. In this way, he could ensure uniform lighting conditions in each room of the house.” — www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com

Casa Batlló was designed by Gaudí for Josep Batlló, a wealthy aristocrat; much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadis) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues, Barcelona, Spain

A model of Casa Batlló, whose local name is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), as it has a visceral, skeletal organic quality; Barcelona, Spain

“The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), as it has a visceral, skeletal organic quality. The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveaun the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.

“It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadis) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur.  A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the lance of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudí’s home), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.” — Wikipedia

The entrance hall evokes an underwater environment, transporting visitors to the fantastic world of Jules Verne, with skylights that resemble turtle shells, vaulted walls with curved shapes and a spectacular wooden staircase; the carved banister, made from hardwood, represents the backbone of a huge animal, raising through impossible spaces, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

Ascending the private staircase to the 2-floor apartment of the Batlló family in Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain, one arrives on the “Noble Floor” where Mr Batlló’s study has an interesting mushroom-shaped fireplace

The house’s main living room, where a large picture window takes center stage, forming a gallery onto Paseo de Gracia, which is ideal to see and be seen, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

From roof top skylights, Gaudi designed Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain, so that light would fall down the “central light well” and enter interior windows of rooms on all floors of the building, with smaller windows on the upper floors and darker tiles at the top, with lighter tiles at the bottom, so that from the first floor the light appears uniform

The Batlló family’s private dining room, located in the center of the Noble Floor, leads to an exclusive rear courtyard, a small oasis in the middle of the city, designed for its enjoyment in the afternoon; the most noteworthy aspects of this space are its paving and its tile and glass-coated flower pots as its main decorative elements, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

The specially designed glass “walls” protecting walkers on the central stairwell from falling over were designed by Gaudi to evoke visions of underwater scenes (a la Jules Verne), Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

Gaudi designed special doors for the entrances to the rental apartments on floors 3, 4 and 5 of Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain; Gaudi also created the new font used for the alphabet letter above each door (an “F” for this apartment)

The loft of the building — one of the most unique spaces — is a delightful combination of aesthetics and functionality and was formerly a service area for the tenants of the building and housed laundry rooms, storage areas, etc.; it is characterised by the simplicity of its shapes, its Mediterranean influence through the use of the colour white, and its all-pervading light and features a series of 60 catenary arches – and architectural form invented by Gaudi! — creating a space which evokes the ribcage of an animal, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

The main focal point of the roof terrace are the 4 crooked and polychrome chimney stacks, designed to prevent backdraughts, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

The roof terrace is dominated by what is popularly known as the dragon’s back, which characterizes the façade and which has been represented by Gaudí with different colored tiles, Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain

Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain, is visible across Passeig de Gràcia where the city installed light fixtures attached to pedestrian benches in the modernist style to blend in with Gaudi’s architecture

Legal Notices: All photographs copyright © 2021 by Richard C. Edwards.  All Rights Reserved Worldwide.  Permission to link to this blog post is granted for educational and non-commercial purposes only.

Gaudí’s Barcelona, Spain

A remodel of a previously built house, Casa Batlló was redesigned by the famed Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí and is one of his masterpieces, Barcelona, Spain

 

Considered one of the great geniuses of universal architecture, Antoni Gaudí spearheaded one of the lines that shaped the architecture of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries in Europe, although he never bowed to the formal and aesthetic rules of Modernisme (Catalan Art nouveau).  Born in Reus, Spain, his chief customers were the Barcelona bourgeoisie and the Church.  He understood architecture as a total art, which is evident in the attention he afforded to each of the elements that comprise his work.  Fascinated by nature and geometry, he took advantage of all the innovations of the time, particularly in his use of certain materials, such as iron.  Among his outstanding works besides Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera), are the church La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and the home Casa Batlló. – Source: Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

 

Casa Milà, also know as La Pedrera (1906-1912), is regarded as the zenith of Antoni Gaudí’s work in Barcelona’s Eixample district, Spain

 

Casa Milà, also know as La Pedrera (1906-1912): A great petrified wave.  An ensemble of organic, atavistic forms.  A stone poem, giant sculpture, unique and unparalleled… La Padrera has been described by thousands of adjectives and has sparked multiple interpretations.  And it is because Gaudí’s boundless capacity for creation finds its foremost expression in this building in Barcelona’s Eixample district, which was commissioned by the industrialist’s Pere Milà and his wife, Roser Segmon, intended as a family home and apartments for rent. – Source: Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

 

The roof terrace is a unique, unclassifiable architectural achievement, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

The undulating forms and columns on the roof are in keeping with the main facade, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

A gem of Gaudí’s creations is the attic, formed by 270 catenary brick arches, the site of an exhibition dedicated to Gaudí’s life and work with scale models and plans, objects, drawings, photos and videos; Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

A dining room with period furniture in an apartment on the fourth floor of Casa Milà (La Pedrera), part of a recreation of the home and lifestyle of a bourgeois family in the early 20th century, Barcelona, Spain

 

The main automobile entry gate and foyer of Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

Details of a column in the entry foyer of Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

Interior courtyard view of first floor (one level above the ground floor) apartments with unique Gaudí’ window decorations (made of iron), Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

Interior courtyard window and column viewed from the entry foyer, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona, Spain

 

Parc Guell (Guell Park) was originally intended as the site of an upscale housing project and, after it fell through, was transformed into a fantasmagorical public park by Gaudí’, Barcelona, Spain

 

One of several imaginative buildings (and towers) designed by Gaudí for Parc Guell, Barcelona, Spain

 

The façade of one of the Gaudí-designed buildings along the entry street to Parc Guell (note the park’s name in the upper two “circles”), Barcelona, Spain