Casa Batlló

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Coordinates: 41°23′30″N, 2°09′54″E

The Casa Batlló in Barcelona
The Casa Batlló in Barcelona
The arched roof and complex chimney detailing
The arched roof and complex chimney detailing

Casa Batlló is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 19051907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia (passeig is Catalan for promenade or avenue), part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia.

The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

The Casa Batlló in Barcelona
The Casa Batlló in Barcelona

The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.

Casa Batlló chimney in Barcelona
Casa Batlló chimney in Barcelona


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 (trencadís) 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 sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.

Pop Culture

The Casa Batlló appeared in Pascualina 2006 edition, in honour to Antoni Gaudi.

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