Mention Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) and the first building many people will think of will be the Sagrada Familia, the mysterious and complex church in Barcelona which has been famously under construction since 1882 and is slated to be finished in 2026. But some of the architect's most compelling work is residential, including Casa Battlo, built in 1905-07.
The aura of mystery begins at the street facade, with its dreamlike windows and door openings, vertical supports resembling bones, mosaic tile called trencadis at the upper levels and roof parapets and mask-like upper balconies. The facade with its glass tiles was restored this year.
The aura of mystery continues on the interior, where an almost obsessive attention to form and detail lends a mystical unity to structure and space. Here the folds of a spiralling ceiling play with light and shadow.
Because of its location in Catalonia on the Mediterranean, Barcelona includes strains of Catalan culture as well as traces of the many ethnic and religious groups whose trade routes carried them to the ancient port city. The doorway to the stairwell may have references to keyhole doors in the Moorish world, as well as to the sea creatures that inspired some of Gaudi's organic forms and shapes.
The stained glass windows reflect the organic themes as well as the dedication to detail completion that were hallmarks of Gaudi's work.
The playful curves and bright colors of the ground level window wall surprise and delight visitors today; the sheer percentage of glazed area must have been a revelation at the beginning ot the 20th Century.
The curving stairway with its scalloped edges welcomes visitors who make their entrance through the glazed keyhole opening of the doorway shown earlier...
The atrium space is lined with organically curved windows; the deepening color and rhythm of the tile textures lend an undersea feeling, perhaps appropriate to a port city at the edge of the ocean, and also consistent with the themes of Gaudis other work. Casa Battlo was the first building on which Josip Maria Jujol worked on the details, but historians are not certain where Gaudi's work ends and Jujol's begins.
The relentless inventiveness of the interior continues from the atrium to the roofscape, where a playful phantasmagoria awaits the visitor. The waving, tiled forms of the multicolored chimneys and the parapet beyond hold references to sea creatures and Christian symbols. Casa Battlo was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
Photo Credits:
All photos were graciously provided by George Havelka, who also provided photos for "Roadside Attraction: Guggenheim Bilbao—Sketches of Spain Part 1" on June 9, 2019.
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