Casa Batlló facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Casa Batlló

Former names	House of bones
Alternative names	Casa dels ossos (House of Bones)
General information
Location	Barcelona, Spain
Coordinates	41°23′30″N 2°09′54″E / 41.39158°N 2.16492°E / 41.39158; 2.16492
Technical details
Material	stone, metal, wood, ceramic and colours
Renovating team
Architect	Antoni Gaudí
Other designers	Domènec Sugrañes i Gras, Josep Canaleta, Joan Rubió

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part of	Works of Antoni Gaudí
Criteria	Cultural: (i), (ii), (iv)
Inscription	1984 (8th Session)
Extensions	2005
Spanish Property of Cultural Interest
Type:	Non-movable
Criteria:	Monument
Designated:	24 July 1969
Reference #:	RI-51-0003815

The Casa Batlló is a famous building in the center of Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by the amazing architect Antoni Gaudí. Many people think it is one of his best works.

This building was actually an old house that Gaudí completely changed in 1904. His helpers, Domènec Sugrañes i Gras, Josep Canaleta, and Joan Rubió, also worked on the project.

Locals sometimes call it the House of Bones (Casa dels ossos). This is because it looks a bit like a skeleton or something alive. You can find it on the Passeig de Gràcia street. It's part of a group of buildings known as the Block of Discord (Illa de la Discòrdia). This block has four buildings designed by famous Modernisme architects from Barcelona.

Gaudí's style is very unique. The ground floor of Casa Batlló has cool, unusual shapes, oval windows, and sculpted stone. There are almost no straight lines! The outside walls are covered with a colorful mosaic made from broken ceramic tiles, called trencadís. The roof is curved and looks like the back of a European dragon or a dinosaur. A popular idea is that the round part on the left, with a tower and cross, shows Saint George's lance stuck into the dragon's back. Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia, Gaudí's home region.

In 2005, Casa Batlló became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's part of a larger group called the "Works of Antoni Gaudí." People from all over the world come to visit this incredible building.

History of Casa Batlló
Casa Batlló's Unique Design
Gallery
See also

History of Casa Batlló

Building the Original House (1877)

Antoni Gaudí in 1910

The building we now know as Casa Batlló was first built in 1877. It was a regular house, typical for its time, without any special features. It had a basement, a ground floor, four more floors, and a garden at the back.

The Batlló Family Buys It

The Batlló family

Josep Batlló bought the house in 1903. Even though the house wasn't very appealing, the Batlló family chose it because of its great location. It was right in the middle of Passeig de Gràcia, which was a very fancy and important street in the early 1900s. It was the perfect spot for a well-known family to show off their style.

The Batlló family was famous in Barcelona for their textile factories. Josep Batlló wanted a house that was completely different and stood out. He and his wife, Amàlia Godó Belaunzarán, gave Gaudí complete freedom. Josep didn't want his house to look like any other family homes. He picked Gaudí, who had designed Park Güell, because he knew Gaudí would create something daring. The family lived on the main floor of Casa Batlló until the mid-1950s.

Gaudí's Big Renovation (1904-1906)

The atrium; Gaudí convinced Batlló to let him expand the central well of the building to let in light, instead of rebuilding.

In 1904, Josep Batlló hired Gaudí. At first, Batlló wanted to tear down the old building and build a new one. But Gaudí convinced him that a renovation would be enough. He finished the changes in 1906. Gaudí completely transformed the main apartment for the Batlló family. He also made the central light well bigger to bring more light into the whole building and added new floors. That same year, the Barcelona City Council considered Casa Batlló for the best building award, but another architect won.

Later Changes and Public Access

Josep Batlló passed away in 1934, and his wife took care of the house until she died in 1940. Their children managed the house until 1954. Then, an insurance company bought Casa Batlló and used it for offices. In the 1970s, some of the inside rooms were updated. In 1983, the outside balconies were painted back to their original colors. A year later, the building's outside was lit up for the first time during a city festival.

In 1993, the current owners bought Casa Batlló and continued to fix up the whole building. In 1995, they started renting out parts of the house for events. Over 2,500 square meters of space were used for many different gatherings. Because of its great location and beautiful rooms, Casa Batlló became a popular place for important city events.

In 2002, Casa Batlló opened its doors to the public for the first time. People could visit the main floor as part of a celebration for the "International Year of Gaudí." It was a huge success! Visitors loved it and wanted to see more. Two years later, to celebrate 100 years since Gaudí started work on the house, the fifth floor was restored. The tour then included the loft and the light well. In 2005, Casa Batlló was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Casa Batlló's Unique Design

Casa Batlló fireplace seat

What Makes It Special?

The local name, House of Bones, fits well because the building has a very organic, almost skeletal look. It's truly remarkable! Like all of Gaudí's designs, it's hard to put it into just one style. The ground floor is especially amazing with its wavy shapes, unusual oval windows, and sculpted stone.

Gaudí seemed to want to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the outside wall is covered with a mosaic of broken ceramic tiles. These tiles change color from golden orange to greenish-blue. The roof is curved and looks like the back of a European dragon or a dinosaur. Many believe the round part on the left, with a small tower and cross, shows Saint George's lance piercing the dragon's back.

The Loft Area

The loft, originally a service area, has sixty catenary arches

The loft is one of the most unique parts of the house. It used to be a service area for the people living in the apartments, with laundry rooms and storage. It's known for its simple shapes and white walls, which give it a Mediterranean feel. It has sixty catenary arches that look like the ribcage of an animal. Some people think this "ribcage" design is part of the dragon's spine represented on the roof.

The Noble Floor and Museum

Interior of the Noble Floor, which currently houses a museum open to the public

The noble floor is the main floor of the building and is very large. You enter through a private hallway with skylights that look like tortoise shells and curved walls. On this floor, there's a big open space with views of the blue tiles in the building's light well. On the side facing Passeig de Gracia, you'll find Mr. Batlló's study, a dining room, and a cozy spot for couples with a mushroom-shaped fireplace. The whole noble floor is decorated with elaborate, animal-like designs.

Since 2002, the noble floor has been open to the public as a museum.

The Dragon Roof

Four chimney stacks on the roof, with the dragon's spine roof arch behind

The roof terrace is one of the most famous parts of the house because of its dragon-back design. Gaudí used tiles of different colors to make it look like an animal's spine. The roof also has four chimney stacks designed in a special way to prevent smoke from blowing back down.

Outside Walls (Façade)

The façade has three distinct sections.

The outside of the building has three main parts that blend together beautifully. The lower part, including the ground floor and two first-floor balconies, is made of stone with wavy lines. The middle part, which goes up to the top floor, is very colorful with balconies that stick out. The very top looks like a crown or a huge arch, hiding a room that used to hold water tanks. This room is now empty. The top edge has decorative ceramic pieces that many people have tried to understand.

Roof Tiles

Roof architecture and ceramic tiles, with tower and bulb in the background

The curved roof looks like a dragon's spine, with ceramic tiles acting as scales. A small triangular window on the right side looks like the dragon's eye. The tiles have a shiny, metallic look, like real scales. Their colors change from green on the right (where the dragon's head might be) to deep blue and purple in the middle, then to red and pink on the left.

Tower and Cross

A highlight of the outside is a tower with a cross on top, pointing in four directions. It looks like a plant growing, with a bulb-like shape at its base. There's another bulb-shaped part that looks like a flower bud, with a cross that seems to be announcing a new bloom. The tower has special ceramic symbols for Jesus (JHS), Mary (M with a crown), and Joseph (JHP). These golden symbols stand out against the green background, showing how religious Gaudí was. He was inspired by the Sagrada Família church, which was being built at the same time, to use the Holy Family as a theme.

When the bulb for the tower was first delivered, it was broken. But Gaudí liked the broken look and asked for the pieces to be put back together with mortar and a brass ring.

Central Section

The central part of the façade evokes the surface of a lake with water lilies.

The middle part of the outside walls looks like the surface of a lake with water lilies, similar to Claude Monet's famous paintings. It has gentle ripples and reflections from the glass and ceramic mosaic. This large wavy surface is covered with colorful glass and 330 round pieces of pottery. Gaudí and his assistant Jujol designed these pieces while working on another project in Majorca.

Balconies

Above the central part, there's a smaller iron balcony that looks like a local type of lily. Two iron arms were added here to help lift furniture up and down.

Main Floor Details

The main floor's outside, made of sandstone, is supported by two columns. The windows have colorful stained glass. In front of the large windows, there are six thin columns that look like bones with a joint in the middle. These are actually floral decorations. The rounded shapes of the openings and the lip-like edges carved into the stone make them look like wide-open mouths. This is why Casa Batlló is sometimes called the "house of yawns." This design is repeated on the first floor and in two windows at the ends, but the large central window has two balconies.