Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona has been given a €3.5m makeover, restoring the iconic building’s rear façade to its original design.
The front of Casa Batlló is one of the most famous sights in Barcelona, but the rear of the property has deteriorated over the years with colours shifting and architectural features lost. A year-long renovation project, using local artisans in ironwork, glass, wood and ceramics, has rebuilt Gaudi’s innovative vaulted balcony support system, reinstated lost courtyard features such as its planters and pergola and restored original hues of the façade.
Xavier Villanueva, lead architect on the restoration, tells The Art Newspaper: “Restoring the back façade and private courtyard of Casa Batlló has been much more than an architectural task: it has been a reclamation of memory and an exploration of Antoni Gaudí’s living legacy. The project is the result of years of rigorous research, historical documentation, and meticulous artisanal work to return the space to its original 1906 state, just as Gaudi envisioned it.”
The refurbishment coincides with the 20-year anniversary of Casa Batlló’s Unesco World Heritage Site designation in 2005. Among the other features that have been recreated is the pavement, which has been replicated with 85,000 Nolla mosaic pieces. Iron railings and doors, as well as the courtyard walls including stucco and glass-and-ceramic trencadís (broken tile mosaics), were also restored.
The trencadís being restored © Casa Batlló
Villanueva says: “One of the most striking changes is the chromatic transformation: the wall, previously a cream tone, has recovered its original dark colour, while the wrought iron—once painted black—now displays lighter tones. This inversion of colours radically alters the perception of the façade, restoring the expressive power it had lost over time.”
Casa Batlló was originally built in 1877 to an unremarkable design, but it was only after it was bought by Josep Batlló in 1903 that Gaudi was commissioned to redesign it into a house like no other. The current owner is Nina Bernat, the daughter of Enric Bernat, a Catalan entrepreneur and inventor of the Chupa Chups lollipop, the logo of which was designed by Salvador Dali.
The mosaic being restored © Casa Batlló
She said: “I’m thrilled by the path we’ve travelled together—being there from the very start and, alongside the team, rediscovering Casa Batlló’s original splendour as Gaudí imagined it. This restoration is a wondrous gift born of our dedication and love for heritage.”
A documentary film chronicling the restoration will come out later this year and videos are already available on the Casa Batlló YouTube page showing the process.