Article updated on August 29, 2026
Text: Claire Lessiau
Photographs: Claire Lessiau & Marcella van Alphen

At the turn of the 20th century, Passeig de Gràcia is the place to settle for Barcelona’ powerful and wealthy. In 1903, Josep Batlló, a successful textile industrialist, buys a 25-year-old house on this prestigious boulevard in the new and fashionable Eixample district. However, Batlló’s home looks dull beside neighbouring Casa Amatller, designed by Catalan architect Puig i Cadafalch. He commissions the celebrated Antoni Gaudí to rebuild it entirely, but the highly creative architect convinces him to preserve the original structure, add two floors, and radically redesign the façade and interiors, with a spectacular result.

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Walking along Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Batlló is impossible to miss. Its unique joyful, dreamlike façade recalls Claude Monet’s Impressionist water lilies. Balconies resembling carnival masks scatter the colorful wall, while the roof mimics the scales of a parrot fish. Looking more attentively, it is actually the spine of a green-and-blue dragon. Near the turret crowned by a cross, its scales turn blood red, a reference to Saint George, Catalonia’s patron saint, slaying the dragon, a symbol especially meaningful to the proudly Catalan Gaudí.

Stopping at the façade would be a mistake. Entering the house feels like penetrating an underwater world with its shapes, colors, and light. The skylights recall a sea turtle’s shell, while wooden vents resembling fish gills allow air to circulate. Finished in the finest lime stucco, the walls seem to change color as delicate veins of gold leaf catch the sunlight, evoking the skin of a gigantic, mystical creature. The beautiful ramp of the stairs leading to the noble principal floor looks like the spine of an enormous vertebrate, while the mushroom fireplace brings to mind a jellyfish. In the reception room, the walls and ceiling seem to banish every possible straight line ending in a giant whirlpool overhead. The staircase serving the tenants’ apartments paved with blue ceramics creates the sensation of moving through an aquarium. Climbing up the stairs and against expectations, the light seems of a constant blue: Gaudí chose paler blue tiles for the lower floors and darker blue tiles for the higher floors. He also sized the windows along this skylight so that the light is diffused evenly in all flats, with larger windows for the lower floors and smaller ones for the higher floors.

The uppermost level was reserved for the domestic staff. Walking through its corridor feels like exploring the brick-and-plaster rib cage of an imaginary animal, breathing to the rhythm of Gaudí’s natural ventilation system. On the rooftop, this imaginary animal takes shape in the ceramic scales covering the arched roof, their tones shifting with the time of day and the changing seasons. Its appendices made of trencadís (broken pieces of ceramics) regroup the chimneys that become part of the whimsical decor.

Gaudí oversaw every detail of Casa Batlló. He identified so much with his art that he pushed it to the extreme also designing the furniture of the dining room. Just like with the rest of the building, its ergonomics is exceptional.

Started in 1904, the transformation of Casa Batlló took Gaudí only two years to complete. He successfully merged function and beauty, practicality and symbolism. This joyful and dynamic house showcases a very personal and unrepeated work at the maturity of the art of Gaudí. More than a landmark of Catalan Modernisme, Gaudí expressed a remarkably forward-looking approach to form, materials, and sustainability by recycling building materials. Modernist? Certainly. More than a century later, it also remains decisively modern.

Travel tips:

• For tours and more details, check out the website of La Casa Batlló. Expect a highly immersive visit thanks to augmented reality.
• For a fun way of learning more about El Eixample and Casa Batlló, go for a treasure hunt!
• This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or travel directions to the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in (Barcelona) on GPSmyCity. 
• Check out this interactive map for the specific details to help you plan your trip and more articles and photos (zoom out) about the area!
  

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