Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló is a building by the architect Antoni Gaudí, the leading figure of Catalan Modernisme. It is a comprehensive remodelling of a building previously standing on the site, the work of Emilio Sala Cortés. It is located at number 43 on the Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, the wide avenue that runs through the Eixample district, in the so-called Block of Discord, because besides this building it houses other works by Modernist architects: Casa Amatller, which adjoins Gaudí's, by Josep Puig i Cadafalch; Casa Lleó Morera, by Lluís Domènech i Montaner; Casa Mulleras, by Enric Sagnier; and Casa Josefina Bonet, by Marceliano Coquillat. The construction was carried out between 1904 and 1906.

Casa Batlló reflects the artistic maturity of Gaudí: it belongs to his naturalist period (the first decade of the twentieth century), a time when the architect perfected his personal style, drawing inspiration from the organic forms of nature, for which he put into practice a whole series of new structural solutions arising from Gaudí's in-depth analyses of ruled geometry. To this the Catalan artist adds great creative freedom and imaginative ornamental creation: starting from a certain Baroque quality, his works acquire great structural richness, with forms and volumes free of rationalist rigidity or of any classical premise.