Gaudí's Barcelona - Casa Battló

I've got lots of pictures from Barcelona and a decent amount to tell, so this post will focus on the architecture; particularly the architecture of Antoni Gaudí (1852 - 1926). 

Barcelona has been said to be Gaudí's city, and it's very obvious as to why once you take a short tour around the city. His work is spread across Barcelona and spans projects from the extortionate Casa Battló to the captivating Parc Güell and his final masterpiece: la Sagrada Familia.

First we'll take a look at what was my personal favorite: Casa Battló. This building was commissioned as a renovation project by a wealthy textile worker in 1904.

Casa Battló. (Photo by Spencer Bridgers)

Close-up of the front window.

Casa Battló on the right next to some less important building.

If you look at the detail in the close-up of the front window, particularly the columns, you may realize why this residential house is locally referred to as "The House of Bones".

Stepping inside we begin to see the reflexion of his inspiration: Nature.

Green and Blue decorations with a backdrop of a finely crafter hand rail. Notice the wavy moldings and transition area between the stairs and wall.

Mushroom fireplace next to an indoor window. Above the door-sized window is a smaller window that lets in natural light, to give a warm and cozy feeling to the room.

There are two benches within the fireplace area. The right hand bench was used for a man and his date, while the single seater left hand bench was where their chaperon would sit, forever watchful.

Next we will see some views behind the main window of the building. This room was designed as a lounging area with couches from which one could overlook the city streets.

There are no (or very few) square windows or truly flat services in the Casa Battló. The edge of the gold and black ceiling light can be seen at the top of this picture.

Both indoor and outdoor columns encasing the stained glass window.

My dimly lit self next to a column.

View of the space between columns.

A look into the past when the main lounge was fully furnished. Sitting in one of those couches you'd be surrounded by the magnitude of Gaudí's genius. What a feeling that must have been.

The ceiling light. It appears as if someone placed the light in a wet-clay ceiling and then twisted it to create the curvature of the ceiling surface.

A close up of the ceiling light.

Another view capturing the tilt of the light. Three pictures of this one light; I must really like it.

Down the hallway to the next room we find some of Gaudí's functional design.

It really pained me to walk down this hallway and not know what was behind some of these doors.

This indoor window overlooks one open area of the house that encloses the elevator and shaft. Above the window there are five slats that can be open or closed to allow natural light and convective heat and air circulation. Each of the doors leads to a balcony guarded by the wire mesh seen through the window.

An unfortunate view of the elevator shaft.

A windowless view of the open area that holds the elevator shaft.

Use the stairs to reference how to locate down.

In the next room is a view of the other open area portion of the house. This area can also be seen from the staircase used to access the higher levels of the building.

Notice again the slats; although this time they are integrated into the window design.

The theme of this house was "by the sea", which hasn't really been apparent up to this point, but the series of pictures to come, especially the staircase, will drive this point home.

The woman in this picture is modelling the devices we were given to listen to throughout the tour. Each room had a corresponding number (in this case '7') and the device would give some background information of our current location. The design on the ceiling in this room was speculated to represent a water droplet after it contacts a pool of standing water and becomes immersed. The alternative representation was said to be a circle of women's breasts.

For those people who just LOVE doors.

A view of the open area from the first set of stairs.

Here we can see one main inlet of natural light.

A closer look at the window detail and bulbous forms on the walls.

Here's an example of an indoor window and balcony combination.

Notice the vertical transition from pale blues and white to rich blues as the walls reach to the sky.

Each level of the staircase had doors like this on either side that lead to apartments.

The letter on the top portion of the door corresponded to the name of the person living here; each door was inscribed with a different letter. The door handle, although blurry in this picture, is worth mentioning. It was said that they were cast in clay formed by Gaudí's hands to fit the human hand perfectly.

A downward view of the other side of the staircase and souvenir shop.

An upward view with the souvenir shop window behind the railing. A complex assortment of windows and curvatures.

Gaudí was masterful with design, both artistically and functionally. The hallway depicted below illustrates his use of both. The archways inspire the person standing within the hallway to feel as if they are in a skeletal ribcage; at least that's how I felt. Functionally, they give an air that the hallway is much larger than it actually is. This misconception is achieved horizontally because of the shape of the arches and in a three-dimensional manner because of the layering of the arches. Gaudí uses the same effect in larger rooms as well.

Like being in the belly of a whale.

The colored image at the end of the hallway is a moving art piece of Gaudí waving as you walk by.

This room is sort of haunting with its uncharacteristic darkness and ghostly image of Gaudí.

There are two outdoor areas of this house: one half way up the building, and the second on the very top of the roof. They both showcase Gaudí's use of mosaics and creative design.

View of the upper portion of the house from the first outdoor area.

Mosaic design on the opposite wall of the building. Not to criticize Gaudí's work, but I think this would look really cool if water flowed from one pot to the next.

Weird pixelated floor design.

Mosaic Design

Myself in front of the mosaic creation.

Yet another mosaic.

Up a smaller staircase we had access to the rooftop. Most notably here are the chimney, dragon-looking sculpture, and the watershed.

Staircase to the rooftop.

Overview of the rooftop.

Funky looking chimney, likely for the mushroom fireplace.

Alternate view of the chimney taken from the bridge.

I think this thing looks like a dragon, but that may just be me; photo also taken from the bridge.

The hide of the dragon.

View from the hole.

View of less exquisite rooftops of Barcelona.

A long fall down an ugly alley.

I believe this is where the light enters the blue open area by the staircase. Notice the slats that allow the free passage of fresh air.

An inside view of the slats from the rooftop. This is along a hallway.

This water fountain is located in the water shed within the dragon on the rooftop. Water flows over the silver ball from a small hole on the top and light shines down from above. The reflection from the water is cast on the white walls to make a soothing environment.

The water effect. Obviously this is much better in motion.

And that's Casa Batlló in all its glory. The mystery of what lies behind those locked doors is nearly as frustrating as not knowing the inside of the ice cave in Calgary. (we're bringing a flashlight next time Charlie!)

Go here to see the Casa Battló at night: http://www.panorama.cat/pr/full_screen/bcn_batllo_swf.html