Casa Batlo – Gaudi’s Undersea Fantasy

Gaudi buildings

Casa Batlo is the most popular Antoni Gaudi designed landmark to visit in Barcelona after La Sagrada Familia. This house is an undersea fantasy with walls, colours and motifs that evoke the feeling of being under water or in a whale (sort of like Jonah). Being on the luxury shopping end of Passeig de Gracia, Casa Batlo is a convenient place to visit if you’ve got plans to do a bit of shopping.

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Entry – main staircase
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Entrance foyer

When the Batlo family appointed Gaudi to build their home in 1904, he was already well established and was given free rein in his design. The result is a house that is much more organic in shape – lots of curves, shell shapes, etc. – than the buildings from the early part of Gaudi’s career (such as Palau Guell) which had more of an Arabic influence. I think it’s worth visiting both Casa Batlo and Palau Guell (click for my blog on Palau Guell) to get a sense of how Gaudi’s design ideas had matured. With Casa Batlo, Gaudi hit his stride as the most significant art nouveau architect.

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Detail of doors in the main apartment
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Upper floors area, leading to the roof top

Unfortunately for Casa Batlo, the building was severely damaged during the Spanish civil war and ownership has changed hands a few times since the Batlo family sold it in the mid-1950s. It had been used as an office by subsequent owners but an extensive renovation was undertaken starting in 1993 and completed in 2005 by the current owners.

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Ceiling detail – main living room

Unlike Palau Guell, which was largely intact when ownership was passed to the city, Casa Batlo does not have the advantage of having period furnishings in its rooms. The result is that you lose a bit of understanding on how the house must have looked like during Gaudi’s era. However, the use of multi media aids helps to fill in these gaps during a visit.

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On the rooftop, the dragon rests

The visit covers the entry, noble floor (the main living area of the Batlo family), the attic/upper floor areas and the rooftop. The latter is best known for the dragon spine at the front.

Given its popularity with visitors, Casa Batlo is generally very crowded so there was still a bit of a queue even though we already purchased our tickets on line. There is no time or day stated on the online ticket, which means that if you can go earlier or later in the day, there may be fewer people.

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Looking out from the “bones” of the house
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Wide use of various mosaics and tiles in the house – these are from the outside courtyard
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Pillars and ceiling detail – like the tonsils of a whale
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Room off the back living area – there are seats and vending machines here if a rest is needed
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The internal air well
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Curved details in the upper apartment area
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Upper level of the air well – graduated shades of blue tiles
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Down the stairs to the exit

Casa Batlo is open to visits 365 days a year from 9am. This summer they will open the rooftop for live music, drinks and snacks (for an additional fee). Otherwise, the last entry for a visit is at 8pm.

For more info and online ticket purchase, see Casa Batlo’s website: https://www.casabatllo.es/en/