The Arts and Crafts Movement was inclusive of art objects and architecture. A unique piece of architecture is described here with attention to the themes that make a piece of work become an art work. The Casa Batlló has been called the “most emblematic work of the brilliant Catalan architect”Antoni Gaudí. (Casa 2013) The urban apartment building has 5000 meters squared and can be found at the heart of Barcelona. The design style is considered Modernism under the category of the Arts and Crafts Movement because of the use of broken glass, ceramic pieces, unusual shapes from nature and the colors in the design. The building is located in Barcelona where it was built during the two years between 1904 and 1906. Gaudí was commissioned by Josep Batlló a Catalan textile industrialist. The house is located on the Passeig de Grácia and part of a series of buildings which can be found on the Block of Discord. The building was made up of the ground floor, four upper floors, a basement and a garden in the back. Casa Batlló is now a museum open to the public. Currently the house is also used for cultural events which use the Modernist designed rooms for dining and small concerts.
Function
The function of Casa Batlló is clearly that of a home although it is very unique. The proportion of the house’s height and width matches the rest of the buildings on the street. The building is located in a housing area in downtown Barcelona but the five stories of the Batlló look like they were made from flexible organic materials, although the building’s façade is solidly built from stone and glass giving the accurate impression of a solid mass. (See fig. 1) The ground floor of the home is a large gallery like room in size. The Noble Room is on the ground floor and offers windows with wooden frames but shaped without jams. A panoramic view of the room is possible due to a system of counter weights that can be manipulated to open and close the windows. Figure 1 illustrates the ground floor windows which are shaped with curving perimeters, filling the front of the building with glass. The balconies on the other floors are shaped like masks or maybe the bones of animals from fairy tales so the house is known as the House of Bones. (Glancey, p. 169)
Form and Mass
Antoni Gaudí once said “The straight line belongs to man, the curve to God” and then Gaudí gave the curve to man in his architecture. (Glancey, p. 169) The Casa Batlló shows that Gaudí was very serious about the statement he made because the façade has curves that run like gentle ripples across the front of the hours. The balconies are curved shapes. The windows of the ground floor and the two windows at the right and left sides of the first floor are curved with boney looking centerpieces adding support. The use of bone-like columns is repeated inside the house. The house does not exhibit a classical symmetry but it pleasant and interesting to view from the street. Although folding the right side of the house vertically over the left side would not demonstrate symmetry a sense of balance has been comfortably reached. A home in northern Europe usually has an angled roof so snow can slide off in the winter. In southern Europe often are built with flat roofs. The roof of the building is an unusual form because it is shaped like “an animal’s back with large iridescent scales.” (Gaudi 2013) (See fig. 2) The roof repeats the gentle rhythm of the curves or ripples which are evident on the facade moving horizontally across its width. The building clearly shows an organic form which is enhanced by the colors, the texture and shadows which pass over the façade from light to dark during the day. The similar scale of the balconies and shutters on the facades first to fourth floors allow the eye to find the focal point of the wall of windows on the ground floor. The theme of curving beauty matched with functional use is evident in the entrance of the house. (See fig. 3) The main focus of the entrance is the grand sweeping staircase which fits well into the space due vaulted ceilings and the skylights. “The skylights are shaped like tortoise shells.” (Gaudi 2013)
Figure 1External views of the Casa Batlló in Barcelona (1904 to 1906)
Figure 2A close look at Casa Batlló’s roof from the outside.
Figure 3 The entrance hall at Casa Batlló, 1904-1906
Conclusion
The owner of the Casa Batlló wanted a change from a traditional, boring building and therefore he chose Antoni Gaudí as the architect. The building was refurbished with original design ideas. Gaudí’s design seemed to be inspired from nature because the curved, organically shapes he used to form the external façade as well as elements inside the house. The function of the house remained the same after the refurbishment, the owner’s family lived on the ground floor and apartments were used for the living space in the remaining four floors. The real proof of the practicality of the renovation couple with beauty is the current use of the building as a museum and a space to host events.
References
Conway, H. and Roenisch, R. (1994) Understanding Architecture: An Introduction to Architecture and Architectural History. New York: Routledge.
Casa Batlló Gaudí Barcelona official website, (2013) available from http://www.casabatllo.es/en/
Creating New Culture (2013) available from http://creatingnewculture.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/barcelona-state-of-mind/
Glancey, John. (2000) Story of Architecture. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley Limited.
The entrance hall at Casa Batlló, 1904-1906
Architect: Gaudi
(Source: John and Chrissie Masters, The Arts and Crafts Home, www.achome.co.uk)
