Batllo House
From WikiArquitectura - Buildings of the World
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[edit] Introduction
The current building, built by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona, is the result of the total reformation of a conventional apartment building constructed in the year 1877.
Gaudí was commissioned to complete the renovation by the building's owner, Josep Batlló i Casanovas, a man who had made his money in the textile industry. On this basis, Gaudí built this amazing house in the local version of Art Nouveau called "modernisme," and the resulting structure is quite fanciful and unique in Barcelona.
Antoni Gaudí's original draft design in 1904 was strongly challenged by the municipal authorities of the time, due to a series of elements of the design well beyond the limits of bylaws. What originated as a simple reform of a building already built, gave the opportunity to Gaudí to create one of his most poetic and decorative works.
[edit] Location
The house is located at number 43 on the Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, which is the city's main street. Because there are a several other modernista houses on the same block of the street, it is often called the "Block of Discord."
[edit] Decorative Program
Like most houses in the Eixample district of Barcelona, the main floor of the building was to be the home of Mr. Batlló and his family, and the other four floors would be divided into two apartments each for rent.
While this organization of space was not new in Barcelona, Gaudí's decorative program is what makes the house exception. On the facade he added a gallery, new balconies and polychrome ceramics, called "trencadís." In the interior, he reorganized the space, combining the stairwell and lightwell to allow more lighting and ventilation to access the lower apartments. He completed his reformation by adding two floors above the existing building, which were finished with a spectacular ceramic-clad roof.
The main façade, covered with splendid colorful mosaics, is probably the most attractive, creative, and original in the city. Its composition is intended to evoke the story of Saint George slaying the Dragon. This story was familiar to Barcelonans, as George is patron of both their city and the surrounding region of Catalonia.
The house's balconies appear as fragments of skulls—the victims of the dragon— with openings in them that resemble the eyes and nose, and exterior columns on the first-floor gallery resemble human bones.
The ceramic roof that crowns the building is covered in scale-like tiles, while the entire structure undulates, recalling the arched, scaly back of the dragon.
Interestingly, the attic-space under this roof is a spacious diaphragm-arched space, which relates it to Gaudí's earlier building at Bellesguard. The roof's supports are built with brick.
Emerging from this roof is another allegorical piece, a tower crowned by a ceramic-clad four-armed cross, typical of Gaudí. This piece represents Saint George's lance, piercing the dragon's back.
[edit] Interior
The building's interior is also very imaginative and presents extremely varied elements such as furniture, decorated windows, wrought iron items, household items, and so on.
Gaudí devoted special attention to the first floor which was inhabited by the house's owners. In this space he specially decorated the ceilings, furnishings, and placed other elements and original furniture pieces of very careful design.
[edit] Materials
For the facade, Gaudi used the constructive elements typical of the modernisme style, such as ceramics, stone, and wrought iron.
[edit] Photos
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