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Rich Man's House - Casa Batllo
By Anil Gupta
It is Gaudi's amazing creations. Casa Batllo was built for the private residence of a wealthy textile industrialist, Joseph Batllo. The house is a modern interpretation of Barcelona's medieval roots, with a rainbow of dragon scale shingles on the roof, and skeleton-like railings for the balconies. The inside is open to visitors, and displays some of Gaudi's furnishing creations as well.
The lower levels of the house were for the owner and the upper floors for renting. The "house" at present is a museum. Mighty pillars that come into sight resemble the feet of some giant elephant are the first thing to meet the eye of the passerby from street level. The roof reminds the passerby of a completely different animal - it is bordered by a jagged line similar to the backbone of a gigantic dinosaur. A portico extends between the two, including a number of small, elegantly curved balconies that seem to stick to the front of the house like birds' nests on the face of the cliff. The front itself glitters in numerous colors, and small round plates that look like fish scales are let into it. There are no edges or corners in the house; even the walls are rounded in fold and have in essence the feel of the smooth skin of a sea serpent about them.
This colorful facade was the architectural mask designed by Antoni Gaudi in 1904 to enclose the outer part of an existing building along the lovely Passeig de Gracia. This is the most famous member of the "Manzana de la Discordia", and just next doors to the Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch (the third member of the Manzana is the Casa Lleo Morera).
The bold colors of the front shimmer brilliantly on sunny mornings, while at night it is spectacularly illuminated. There are many theories regarding the origins of the design, but perhaps the most interesting is that it represents the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. It is not easy to grasp the entire facade in one glance, so the details should be carefully studied in order to appreciate the vitality of Gaudi's design. The dynamic roofline features a tower marked by a cross along with the sinuous outline of the dragon. Window embellishments include skull mask balcony railings and bizarre bone-shaped verticals.
The facade of the Casa Batlló is made of local sandstone covered with colorful trencadis (a Catalan type of mosaic). One of the first recyclers, Gaudi used the rejected and imperfect tiles from his other projects to complete the façade as well as the mosaic on the back of the building and on the chimneys atop the building.
The visitor slowly begins to realize that there are no present anywhere; in its place, everything, even the walls and ceilings, gently curve and ripple as if mimicking the surface of a calm body of water. Walls turn into ceilings and floors without interruption, thereby creating a uniform space.
Though Casa Batlló is unbelievably odd, still it has warm and inviting feeling, as if the visitor had just stumbled upon some sort of magical, underwater castle. Casa Batlló has an extremely marine and natural theme which runs throughout the entire building, from the aquatic blue tiled walls of the inner stairwell to snail-shell inspired lines on the ceilings.
About the Author
Anil Gupta recommends that you visit http://www.bookings.es/city/es/barcelona.html?aid=305255 for more information on barcelona hotels.
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