Address: Spain, Barcelona, Passeig de Gracia, 43
Start of construction: 1904 year
Completion of construction: 1906 year
Architect: Antoni Gaudi
Coordinates: 41 ° 23'30.0 "N 2 ° 09'53.0" E
Content:
Short description
In Barcelona, which can be safely called a city of contrasts, on Passeig de Gracia street is perhaps the most amazing residential building in the whole world.
View of Casa Batlló from Passeig de Gràcia
It is simply impossible not to notice it from the window of a car or a sightseeing bus: it instantly catches the eyes of the guests of the capital of Catalonia and causes them a state that is similar to something with a silent shock. This house is one of the greatest creations of the genius Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.
Casa Batlló, Casa Batlló, House of Bones - all these are the names of an architectural masterpiece on street Passeig de Gràcia at number 43... Near this Barcelona landmark, you can always meet huge and noisy crowds of tourists trying to capture the house from all angles, taking often ridiculous and ridiculous poses for this. People do not ignore Casa Batlló even when twilight falls on the capital of Catalonia. By the way, in the evening, thanks to the original lighting, the unusual house turns into an even more fantastic and fabulous building. It's not a secret for anyone that whatever Gaudi's hand touched, in the shortest possible time it turned into amazing and unique buildings, pieces of furniture, etc. The talent of Antoni Gaudi, according to authoritative architects, is difficult to overestimate, but in Casa Batlló, it seems, the genius has surpassed himself. Naturally, this is only the initial opinion of those tourists who have not yet seen the quarry or the magnificent Park Guell and his estate.
House facade view
Casa Batlló - construction and renovation
There is practically nothing to talk about the construction of the house itself, owned by Josep Batlló y Casanovas. For two years (from 1875 to 1877) the workers, in record time, built the most ordinary and unremarkable apartment building. An entrepreneur who made a fortune in the production of textiles decided to invest his money in real estate and receive a permanent income from it from renting out apartments. In 1904, Josep Batllo y Casanovas decided that the house at 43 avenue Passeig de Gràcia did not evoke any positive emotions in him and simply faded next to the Amalle house, built in a modernist style.
To leave a memory of himself, the industrialist made an order for the reconstruction of the house in 1904 to the architect Antoni Gaudi, who had already become famous for his works. By the way, at the time of receiving the order, Gaudi was still working on Park Guell. Casanovas was so dissatisfied with the appearance of his apartment building and so inspired by the works of Antoni Gaudi that he decided to completely demolish the building. However, the architect, having calculated and thought through everything to the smallest detail, stops the textile worker from taking such a rash step and begins work on the reconstruction of the finished building.
Fragment of the building facade
In order to create his next masterpiece, Antoni Gaudi completely changes the facades of the house, but leaves the original structure of the building. According to experts, Casa Batlló is a new round in the architect's work and another proof that in his work, in addition to design, great attention is paid to both rationalism and calculations.... In just two years, Antonio Gaudi completely rebuilds the two facades of Josep Batlló y Casanovas' tenement house. One of them can be seen by everyone who drives or strolls along Passeig de Gràcia, and the second facade is visible from the courtyard of the house, which has also been completely reconstructed to fully match the design of the House of Batlló or the House of Bones - whoever you like. ... courtyard of the building, Gaudí was able to connect two so-called light shafts. And this work shows the rationalism of the brilliant architect: the combination of two light shafts made it possible not only to create an amazing, beautiful courtyard, which, unfortunately, is so difficult to describe in words, but also to significantly improve ventilation in the building, as well as to achieve good lighting of the premises due to natural light. Moreover, the light in the courtyard is evenly distributed, Gaudí was able to achieve this effect due to the reduction in the size of the windows from the bottom up, and the fantastic color of the cladding: at the bottom it is almost snow-white and turning into soft blue, and then into bright azure. Here again it is necessary to repeat, all this is not the result of unbridled imagination, but a combination of style and clear calculation.
View of the upper floors of the building and the turret with a cross
“The courtyard of Casa Batlló, built by Gaudí, is the best way to reveal the secrets of success to modern architects. Many people are trying in our time to build amazing and bizarre buildings, while forgetting about their practicality. His view of the world around him, the absence of templates, and most importantly, rationalism, that is what distinguishes him from any other, albeit a talented architect, Antonio Gaudi! ", - said in one of his interviews one of the most respected and recognized throughout the world architects of the 21st century.
In addition to work on the facades, Antonio Gaudi decided to almost completely rebuild the first floor and mezzanine. As you know, the architect, who was Uesebi Guell's best friend, was talented in everything: he not only rebuilds the premises, he creates for them unique and stylish furniture, which at the moment cannot be found in the house. For security reasons, it is kept in the Antoni Gaudí House-Museum, located in Park Guell, which previously could be entered absolutely free of charge by any guest of Barcelona. In addition, the architect, who was allocated a decent budget for those times, is completing an attic, a basement and a beautiful stepped roof terrace in the house, on which every traveler who comes to the Catalan city climbs to see firsthand the masterpieces of Gaudi.
Back side of Casa Batlló
All the unique elements of Casa Batlló, designed by the architect, were given to the best masters of that time for creation: Josep Pelegri worked on the stained-glass windows, the forged parts were made by the blacksmiths of Badia, by the way, Gaudí turned to these two talented brothers who managed to gain power over metal not once. Interestingly, Gaudí entrusted all the facing details of the Batlló house to the craftsmen from the city of Manacor.located on the well-known Spanish island of Mallorca. The greatest architect, treating any order, one might say, with love, entrusted the execution of the decorative details and pieces of furniture developed by him only to talented craftsmen who understood his ideas on an intuitive level. Only in this way could real masterpieces be born, which should have been admired not only by Gaudí's contemporaries, but also by descendants.
Casa Batlló - a view from the side
The first thing that attracts attention is the vague, "viscous lines" of all decorative elements and, in fact, the complete lack of symmetry in the facade of the building facing Passeig de Gracia street. The first impression is that the house is built from the bones and skulls of giant people. It is thanks to this similarity that the inhabitants of Barcelona, almost immediately after the commissioning of the building by Gaudí, nicknamed it "The House of Bones". Even the Amalie House, built earlier by the architect in the styles of New Gothic and Modernism, fades beside it.
On the roof
It is extremely difficult to surpass the talent of Gaudi, it would be more correct to say, impossible. The point is that in order for unique buildings to appear, not only the talent of an architect is needed, but also his own vision of the world around him.Even if at the moment someone built something similar, they would still be accused of plagiarism or not taken seriously. Brilliant architects, however, like artists, sculptors and poets are not compared, their talent is simply admired.
The windows on the first floor look like the windows of some fabulous house: they are all irregular in shape and seem soft, "spreading", "plasticine". Naturally, this impression is deceiving: all the elements are made of solid stones, which the carver has worked on. The stones used in the decoration of the facade were quarried from the Montjuïc hill.
After the tourist wakes up from the splendor of the first floor of the building, looking up, it begins to seem to him that Casa Batlló, despite its small size, "goes into the sky." This optical illusion was achieved by Gaudí through the use of a mosaic consisting of broken tiles of different colors.
If at the bottom it is pale golden, then towards the top it becomes orange and gradually turns into turquoise. The roof of Casa Batlló, at first glance, seems to have been taken from a completely different structure: the spine of some prehistoric monster seems to protrude from it, and it itself is covered with silvery scales. The amazing building is crowned with a turret with a cross. It is not located in the center, but shifted to the left (another manifestation of asymmetry in Gaudí's masterpiece).
Any guide who conducts guided tours of Barcelona will immediately tell you what is in their work on Dom Batlló or, as Russian tourists pronounce it, Dom Batllo, Antonio Gaudi was, as always, symbolic. The roof of the building is a cruel dragon, the structure itself, which resembles a pile of bones and a skull - his victims, and that very little turret is the hilt of the sword of St. George, who defeated the monster. It is worth noting that images and sculptures of a dragon can be found quite often in Gaudi's masterpieces, for example, the Guell Estate with its "dragon gate". The Catalan architect has always mentioned the folklore and culture of his homeland, its beliefs and legends in his works. Sometimes the symbolism of Gaudí is the first thing that catches the eye, and sometimes it is hidden, and only an attentive person who knows the history of Catalonia will be able to see what the architect was guided by when creating his creation.
Fragment of the roof of the building
The facades of Casa Batlló, its roof and courtyard are not all that Gaudí created. The architect and, as it would be called now, the designer, worked on the interior decorations. The fireplace room, stairs and other rooms are made in a style that is rather difficult to attribute to any of the existing ones. It is officially believed that Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece, Casa Batlló, is made in the Art Nouveau style. However, most architects are inclined to believe that the style in which all buildings are built would be more correctly called the “Gaudí style”, as it is so unique and unique in its kind. As unique as Antoni Gaudi himself is.
A tourist who travels to Barcelona to see its many attractions will naturally not miss the opportunity to come to Casa Batlló. It is described in all tourist brochures in the Catalan capital, because it is one of its main attractions "Quarter of discord", which is proud of all, without exception, the indigenous inhabitants of the city. By the way, this area is called the "Quarter of Disagreement" due to the fact that there are practically no buildings of the same type, and each house is built in its own unique style. The Casa Batlló is one such building.
Ventilation pipes
Quite often you can hear from the Catalans that Josep Batlló y Casanovas was extraordinarily lucky. He was lucky not because he managed to make good money in the production of textiles, but because he entrusted the reconstruction of his house to Antoni Gaudi. Indeed, only thanks to this architect, the name of the industrialist will forever remain in the memory not only of the Spaniards, but also of connoisseurs of the beautiful world, living even in the most remote corners of our vast planet.
