Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Casa Batlló - Barcelona



 
 
 
 
One of the buildings that was on the top of my list of places to see was Casa Batlló. It is one of Gaudi's masterpieces and it was really breathtaking. I couldn't help but be amazed with his genius and extraordinary creativity and imagination.

The house itself was originally built between 1875 and 1877. In 1900 it was bought by the rich industrialist Josep Battló i Casanovas who commissioned Gaudí to tear down the old house and reconstruct a new one. Gaudí however convinced Battló to remodel the existing building. Between 1904 and 1906 Gaudí redesigned the façade and roof, added an extra floor and completely remodeled the interior.

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. So it also goes by the name "The House of Bones". While the enlarged windows on the first floor look like yawning faces and that brought another nickname to the house: "The House of Yawns". The facade of the Casa Batlló is made of sandstone covered with colorful trencadis (which is a Catalan type of mosaic). Typical of Gaudí, straight lines are avoided whenever possible.
Gaudí used colours and shapes found in marine life as inspiration creating the interior and exterior of this house.







 
(The effect of the tiles when seen through glass captures the underwater feel)

The house's interior is as fascinating as its exterior. Gaudi designed the wooden doors, stained glass windows, colorful tiles and carved out fireplace having in mind his sea world.





 
 
The colorful scaled roof recalls a reptile skin. According to some knowledgeable people on Gaudí architecture, the roof represents a dragon; the small turret with a cross would symbolize the sword of St. George stuck into the dragon. The bones and skulls on the façade represent all the dragon's victims.

The house is always swarming with tourists and it was really hard to snap pictures - someone was always in the way, but I am happy I managed to have certain places all to myself to make some memorable photos. I hope you like it as much as I did.

 

11 comments:

Marta G. (A Bilingual Baby) said...

Hi! It's one of my favourite buildings, too. Next time, you need to go there in the summer, they organize concerts in the roof terrace and it's magical!
Best regards from Barcelona,
Marta

Maya Kuzman said...

Hi Marta! Great tip, thank you so much! We hope to come back again and hopefully happen upon a concert!

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Wow Maya, that is such a beautiful building and architecture. I love how colorful the building is. I look for ward to seeing more of your Spain posts!

Maya Kuzman said...

It is indeed magical, just like Marta said. I will certainly share more :)

Divya N said...

wow, wow, wow! I would have gone crazy in that building. I always thought that the house facade looked like a collection of faces and I am glad to hear that it indeed represents a human face/skull. Thanks for the fantastic pictures

Maya Kuzman said...

I am glad you like it Divya:)

CIELO said...

Que hermosura... ahora quiero ir a Barcelona ;)

Cielo

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

So amazing! The balconies look like masks. xoxo Su

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Gorgeous and so unique. My son will be in Barcelona next month with some of his friends.

LitlBits said...

Oh my! This has to be THE most fascinating and beautiful building I've ever seen! It would be well worth the trip to Barcelona just to see this - and to think I could purchase a FastTrack ticket before I even leave home (in USA!)

Thank you for sharing...I sent this - and another page I found through Internet search to my 21 y.o. grandson who is fascinated by "different" architecture. Though not how interested in being an architect, he is an engineering student. On a Student Ambassador trip to Paris (while in high school), he took so many pictures of architecturally interesting buildings...For the following Christmas, he gave me a framed collage of his photos of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Beautiful! It's been hanging in my Living Room ever since.
I KNOW he will love this. I told him in the email (along with the link) that he can only go there IF he agrees to take me with him! (yeh, right!)
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for calling our attention to this awesome building!

Maya Kuzman said...

Dear LitlBits, thank you so much for the visit and the wonderful comment you left.
Gaudi has done so much for Barcelona, your visit, if you decide to go, would most definitely be one unique, unforgettable experience.
We cannot wait to go back there for more explorations of "corners" we missed!