Art History classes, so much information crammed in and so little retained. Antonio Gaudi was one of the ones that stuck with me. His organic and curvaceous buildings peaked my interest and I knew one day I would witness them in person.
After a wine filled night, hey it is Spain, it wasn't easy getting up at the crack of dawn. The opportunity to enter Gaudi’s Casa Battlo before the general public forced me out of bed. So yeah I studied this house before and have seen images but neither compare to the laying of eyes on the real deal…obviously.
Casa Battlo is considered a world heritage sight and was purchased by Josep Battlo in 1903. After the purchase Gaudi went to work with the renovations. Nature, fantasy, and the sea were all inspirations for the residence and all are apparent within the house. The most obvious characteristic of the house are the organic lines as Gaudi attempted to avoid including straight lines in his blueprints. To the windows to the walls…(Lil Jon reference), even the ceiling itself is wavy, inspired by the sea. A tiled covered light well runs through the center of the house providing light to hit evenly to every room. The tiled wall is a gradation of blue going from lighter to darker the higher up you get. The stairwell is lined with uneven glass that reflects the blue tiles of the light well, giving off the effect of being underwater.
After experiencing this underwater fantasy it was time to head back to nap by the pool and dream of Gaudi’s work.
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| The arches in the building are said to resemble rib cages |
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| Uneven glass lines the stairwell giving off the sense of being underwater |
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| Original fireplace that resembles the mushroom shape and includes seating on both sides |
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| Organic shapes in the ceiling |
