casa batllo case study1

M a h d i a r G h a f f a r i a n H o s e i n iC a s e S t u d y A s s i g n m e n tI n t r o D e s i g n T h e o r i e s - F a l l 2 0 1 1

T h e C a s a B a t l l l o (1904-1906)A n t o n i G a u d iC a s e S t u d y

M a h d i a r G h a f f a r i a n H o s e i n iI n t r o t o D e s i g n T h e o r i e s - F a l l 2 0 1 1


The Casa Batlllo (1904-1906)A n t o n i G a u d iIntroductionCasa Batll, is a six-story townhouse in the very heart

of Passeig de Grcia, which is very much Barcelonas Park Avenue. It is a universe of symbolism, a canvas of marine inspiration, a dream world, which evokes nature with its organic elements and is suggestive of fantasy.

History and NeighborhoodCassa Batllo was a new design built on a former

structure of a residence for a wealthy family that wanted to compete in having a predominant mansion. While neighboring other famous buildings designed by famous architects of the time. Casa Batllo was the last of the escalating architectural works that created a utopia of modernism. Each casa was built in attempt to upstage the neighbors.

Casa Batll is beautiful. And it fits right into the neighborhood. Only a genius could have pulled this off. (P. J. ORourke Atlantic Magazine)


Exterior visionThe breathtaking exterior begins with the

massive sandstone columns sampling from such natural forms as bones or flowers stems. The first three floors were where Gaudi concentrated most of his expensive materials, particularly the elaborately carved sandstone. The first two floors extend farther to the street than the others. Thus, this creates a leaning effect that is only accentuated the faades ceaseless undulations. Casa Batllo features no edges or right angles.; Gaudi had the old brick chipped away and replaced with a mosaic skin of lime, mortar, and broken pieces of tile and glass. This is a technique often used by Gaudi (Ben Glick Modernism and Architecture)

Different aspects of the faade are resembles of natural objects and natural forms, such as bones (columns), masks (balconies), dragon, reptilian creature, ocean (roof), flower stems and so on

It should be noted that the roof does a superb job of capping the near formless faade by producing horizontally undulating lines that effectively run perpendicular to the other waves. This provides the necessary contrast to the free form faade; thus, giving it shape, as a beach or harbor gives shape and form to the sea.


way . Shapes t ha t a re s imu l taneous ly fami l ia r and s t range . L i ke t he de l i ca te sands tone co lumns o f t he facade wh ich evoke bo th human t i b ias and de l i ca te f l owers . Na tu ra l f o rms a re abs t rac ted so t ha t t hey c rea te a fundamenta l amb igu i t y resu l t i ng a d reaml i ke qua l i t y f o r t he house . T rad i t i ona l h i s to r i c e lemen ts such as tu r re t , d ragon l i ke roo f , s ta ined g lass w indow add up to l eve l o f f an tasy in a rch i tec tu re . Names l i ke house o f bones o r house o f yawn a re p roduc ts o f us ing na tu ra l symbo ls and bu i l d ing an o rgan ic a rch i tec tu re .

Natu re and Na tu ra l Fo rmsGaud i sa id , Eve ry th ing t ha t any

a rch i tec t cou ld need I s a l ready in na tu ra l f o rms in na tu re . Th i s i s su re ly t he sou rce he re fe renced when des ign ing Casa Ba t l l o . He a lso sa id Those who look fo r t he Laws o f Na tu re as a suppor t f o r t he i r new works co l labo ra te w i t h t he c rea to r . A l so he be l i eves t ha t he had a lways t he i nsp i ra t ion , and na tu re showed h im God s eng inee r ing .

A l l bu i l d ing i s a me tapho r o f na tu re o r t he samp l ing o f na tu ra l f o rms . The bu i l d ing i s composed o f fami l ia r na tu ra l f o rms , a r ranged in a comp le te ly new and su r rea l


Symbolism and Story TellingThe faade and the spirit of the whole building, all of

the curves, symbolic forms and objects, natural forms, colors, glows and textures imply a feeling of fairytales and phantasmal dreams.

Gaudi always intends religious imagery in his works which is usually subliminal, there are religious images and texts all over the building especially on the upper parts of the faade which are to some extend not very obvious.

There is a giant appealing cross on the roof which is assumed to have different messages as the whole building does.

The cross is Gaudis signature, a four-pointed transverse cross. Gill suggests that the goal was to point out that religion can embrace humour, fantasy and the absurd. It can also be interpreted as a message to God that he was building in His name, instead of for fame or glorification of wealth.

The cross is said to be the handle of St. Georges sword. This would make the turret the shaft of the blade. The roof is representative of the hard skin of a dragons back, and the faade is its soft underbelly. The sandstone columns are the bones of the dragons victims, so are the balconies, which are skulls. Thus, the entire faade is symbolic of St. George, the patron saint of Catalunya. In modern art symbolism was a major part as it was always apparent in Gaudis works.


TypeWhat Gaudi has done in his project is a type

of in-between when the gothic is transferring to modernism and this type is neither a gothic architecture nor a modern one. As a result of using Islamic, gothic and baroque forms for years an abstract form of nature in an organic language was emerged in this building.

As Gaudi believes that a house of god should stand on its own he considered gothic imperfect because it was based on supports by elements

which were not primary parts of the building. And the solution for Gaudi was nature where natural forms of plants and animals where self stable, both formal and functional. By this the gothic architecture was developed and the light was added to the space.

Gaudis style encompasses all that defines the Art Nouveau, a School of French decorative artists from the 1890s who took influence from sinuous shapes in plants and nature. He explored his interests in flowing shapes, patterns and colors in the Casa Batll.


Casa Batllo is a bridge from gothic and traditional archi-tecture to modernism and this building is considered as a premier modernist building. Gaudi tends to use new materials and techniques and new technical solutions and many natural forms and symbolism. However, the truly impressive thing about Casa Batllo is not the pres-ence of these individual elements, but the unequivocal unity with which they were assembled


Architecture is not just a design, a form, a bui lding or a structure but i t is def ined by i ts inhabitants, the human.

house of bones or house of yawns are names referred to casa batl lo by Antonio Gaudi , both these names and many other factors and interpretat ions imply that not only this bui lding has a lot to present regarding to the notion of the body but also the bui lding i tself is usually compared to a human body and is considered as a piece of natural organic architecture. This bui lding as discussed in previous paper is introduced as a type of in between, when gothic and modern architecture together are leading this architecture.

A bui lding is always in relat ion to the body and both body and architecture have effects on each other . I t is the body that def ines a space and the space does so for the body To be a body, is to be t ied to a certain world, as we have seen; our body is not pr imari ly in space: i t is of i t .


Physical relat ion between bui lding and the body

the use of natural forms inside and outside of casa batl lo represent a strong formal relat ion between architecture and nature which human body is a part of i t , moreover the space created inside and outside is correlated to human f igure port ions and requirements.

the large amount of l ight and venti lat ion in the space and the concentrat ion of the architect on these technical health-oriented

factors remind us of the modern scheme of health caring systems in which designing bui ldings which provide best possible si tuation for man to l ive a healthy l i fe by means such as avoiding dark and humid spaces and instead of them designing sky l ights and atr iums with good air condit ioning systems were the main concerns of the t ime. While some gothic and classic bel iefs regarding body is obvious in many features of this


casa batllo neighboring other buildings


architecture l ike using f igurat ive elements or vi truvian port ions.

a truly new spir i t can only exist in a new body we have to real ize that the most formidable discovery of our t ime is health physical health, basis of mental health, basis of every balanced activi ty , of al l production, in al l domains, and in that of art as much as un al l the others the body wil l emerge naked in the sun, washed, muscled, supple. (Winter , Le Corps nouveau)

While l iv ing in casa batl lo the bui ldings windows, balconies, walls, cei l ings and curves are al l metaphors of extensions of body, wide views through extended eyes, a deep breath through extended mouth in balconies (house of yawns) and so on.

Psychological and mental relat ion between bui lding and the body

Inside casa batl lo unconsciously every individual is a f low fol lowing the path that architect has designed, i t has been designed for them how to experience the space and how to feel in certain spaces. Every space is designed related to the body to make i t a part of the space.



Although the bui lding and i ts form is mysterious, strange and unfamil iar in persons mind but visi tors and users have always claimed that the bui lding feels so homely and they have never fel t out of place or not matched. homely or unhomely, a place where you feel famil iar with and you feel at home, regardless to the fact that you have ever been there or not and irrespective to the appearance which can be strange or not . The house has been design with respect to body act ions and body requirements in

addit ion to the use of natural forms and materials and curved surfaces which induct the feel ing of famil iar i ty al l together play roles in this phenomenon. When an individual is experiencing the house, i t is not just a physical place but a psychological space in persons mind.

How the bui lding is a bodyCasa batl lo is a result of t ransformation

from an exist ing unwanted si tuation to a



perfectly suitable appealing architecture. Like curing a disease Gaudi change a sick body with a healthy one not only by improvements but also by organ transplantations and even adding new organs. While designing a new circulat ion and space organization Gaudi thoroughly undertook the design of every single element of the bui lding, f rom the extravagantly protuberant facade to al l aspects of the inter ior , including the graceful ly gnarled furniture.

Three di f ferent stages that def ine the relat ion between architecture and the body through centuries are the bui lding as body, the bui lding epitomizing bodily states and environment as a whole endowed with bodi ly characterist ic . Casa batl lo is a combination of the bui lding as a body and the bui lding epitomizing body states as i t is simultaneously expressing the body and working as a body. This is another reason to claim the assumption of the type of in-between.

The parts of bui lding should be arranged similarly to those of an animal; as is seen, for example, in the case of the horse, whose parts are equally beauti ful and eff icient . (Albert i ) casa batl lo is obeying this rule as



well , every feature is formally, functionally and structural ly designed and these factors are not detachable.

The undulat ing rhythms and the organic imagery of these inter iors create the feel ing that the house l ives and breathes. Spiral forms on the walls and cei l ings lend a sensation of movement to the spaces. One Gaudi scholar , Phi l ippe Thibaut, has even suggested that the rooms of the Batl lo apartment unfold l ike a process of cel lular growth. (Rachel Grossman)


From the smallest biological microbes to industrial manufacturing to logistical flows to information management and software coding, technique manifests itself as the capture and control of process[es] for the purpose of repeatability toward the production of material reality. (Livesey, Parlac, Taron - On Technique)

Cassa Battlo, a residential work of Antonio Gaudi, is discussed in through the lens of technology in this paper by the means of a set of diagrams which show different aspects of this work and different meanings of technology in this building.

In Gaudis work, it is suitable to appreciate his point of view as painter and sculptor. For him color was light, and whether he was using pure or iridescent shades, gold or silver, aspect and tone were just as important as the quality and durability of the pigment. (www.gaudidesigner.com) there many different factors in Gaudis architecture from structure to space or from art to mathematics that has been taken into consideration in a special way which is presented as a technique of combining different aspects in one of the diagrams which is seeking for the relation between them. This factor is generally seen in most of the diagrams explaining Gaudis work. Then he explains the necessity of combining different aspects of building together, and criticized separation of plan, elevation structure and all different aspects of architecture. The

idea of intertwined architecture. (Summary on - The Structure of Vagueness, Lars Spuybroek)

other diagrams explaining the technique of dealing with different forces from inside or outside a building or the relation between different pieces of art and techniques of art that Gaudi uses in his works and the architecture. More that the eye sees the body sense. Out of chaos we came, within us is derived sense of order, not linear and logical, but odd and complex. (Cecil Balmond - New Structure and the Informal)

Gaudi believes in god, nature and human and considers each of them as a creature of the other. While talking as architect as creator of a building he presents the human as a creature of the nature which cause the building to be a part of the nature as well. The technique of facing the issue of nature and the debate between creature and creator is also studied in another diagram.



Combination of different factors

Combination of different factorsAs discussed before this diagram studies the

combination of different aspects. Some of the relations are stated as the following:

- what about the relation between architectural design and poetry when logic, rationalism and mathematics rules? the poetical content of reality, Which is ultimating frame of reference for any truly meaningful architecture, is hidden beneath a thick layer of formal explanations.

- By ascending philosophy and science, numbers and geometry was brought out into question, and technique and the crafts were freed from their traditional magical associations, and for architecture it was the beginning of a new approach architects began to consider their discipline a technical challenge,...

- ... Then he describes traditional architecture as locked in right angles and rigid, a rigidity that nothing moves within. The tradition is immobilized. we trap movement., He introduce an idea of a new relation ...

Participating in the worldDiagram of participating in the world studies the

relation and effect that the architecture has to its surrounding, such as effects on people and vehicle flow, relation between buildings, view points, etc. Architecture as a technique to organize urban space.

In the face of modernized production techniques and the expansion and rationalization of the market,

the architect, as producer of objects became an incongruous figure. It was no longer a question of giving form to single elements of the urban fabric, nor even to simple prototypes. Once the true unity of the production cycle has been identified in the city, the only task the architect can have is to organize that cycle

Balancig Interior and Exterior ForcesAs discussed in diagram 1 this diagram is studying

technique of combination of forces in a more formal manner

Art to ArchitectureGaudi as an architecture and artist relates his

artistic techniques and architecture in a specific way. Here re some parts of the readings related to this matter:

- before modern period the main problem of architecture was genesis of form, the form which turns out to follow the mathematical logics and follow the function afterwards.

- ... today, architects who recognize an affinity between their profession and art usually play formal games, but fail to understand he transcendental dimension of meaning in architecture. . Today architects often work under the absurd assumption that meaning and symbol are merely products of the mind...



Participating in the world


Balancig Interior and Exterior Forces


Art to Architecture

The technique of presenting Nature, Human and Architecture as a union is studied in this diagram, the conflict between creature and creator.

- the world is complex and it shifts gear and jumps. We shy away from this difficulty because the mind has to bend around corners and the mathematics is difficult. The shadowy and fantastic seem to be the new reality; virtual and nascent, rather than fixed and concrete. in Trying to remove uncertainty we remove the invisible glue that holds things together.

- Creation is a simple act of the mind- As in nature, nothing in Gaudis buildings or in his furniture

is absolutely identical.- naturalistic style, under the new influence of Modernism

whose resonance can be seen beginning to emerge in its sinuous, plant-like lines, working with forms in which it seems as if the grain of the wood has mastered the cabinetmaker.

- Nature itself laid down the law, with growth determining the forms in well-seasoned fine woods with joints and unions calculated to perfection by Gaudi. Throughout his career

- Gaud complemented this organic vision of architecture with a unique spatial vision that allowed him to conceive his designs in three dimensions, unlike the flat design of traditional architecture.

- Nature does not present us with any object in monochrome . . . not in vegetation, not in geology, not in topography, not in the animal kingdom, (Gaudi)

What is really significant about Gaudis architecture, as has been discussed in previous papers, is his style of in between and emergence of a new meaning of technique in his work. Gaudis position in the history of architecture is that of a creative genius who, inspired by nature, developed a style of his own that attained technical perfection as well as aesthetic value, and bore the mark of his character. (Wikipedia)



Natures curves add to the undulating features that make the space welcoming and functionally brilliant.

Gaudi used a combination of natural forms and geometry to enhance the house. Cleverly working from nature, he used trencadis, the broken tile mosaic, to apply floral motifs with geometric patterning. This adds to the happy even bouyant quality of the space.

In contrast to the dramatic coloration and richness of the rest of the house, the attic areas, upper and lower, were designed to be purely functional by Gaudi. They are painted a pure white. However, far from pure minimalist design as this is Gaudis work, the attic structure is sculptural with catenary arches repeating and defining the spaces. The catenary arches were built from solid thin Catalan bricks that were plastered over. This was a rapid construction and efficient system.

Interior and Exterior lifeAll of Gaudis works, however outwardly unruly,

proceed from internal discipline.Casa Batllo instills visitors with a surreal feeling.

The interior mirrors the exterior. As we saw on exterior there are curves and smooth angles in each and every corner. The space is organic, wide, open and expansive. There are lots of dreamlike fantasy features like curves, colors, windows and stained glass windows. The interior is full of details and materiality even more designed that the exterior and the interior space is just as alive as it appears from the street.

People say its the faade that catches your attention but the interior captures your imagination.

Flowing ArchitectureThe hall streams, the stairs surge, there are no edges, no

corners, walls glide into ceilings, rooms flow into rooms, it is a peristalsis house. But light, cheer, air, and comfortable proportions are everyplace. The design is meant fully for people, they are in good spirits, as the spirit of the house demands.

The view of the building is changing and flowing as the sun hits the front of the building during the day, the facade magically materializes and dematerializes in a celebration of color. Depending on the weather and lighting Casa Batllo may change colors and apply an entirely different impression to the viewer. One critic describes the building faade as, having the same effect as a throwing a stone into a pool of water lilies.


For an architectural thought in thrall to the model of transparency, however, all partitions between inside and outside have collapsed. Space has been comminuted into iconological figures and values, each such fragment being invested with individuality or worth simply by means of a particular color or a particular material.


There is doubtless no such thing as a true space, But there is certainly such a thing as a truth of space which embodies the movement of critical theory without being reducible to it. Human beings are in space; they cannot absent themselves from it, nor do they allow themselves to be excluded from it. (K.M. Hays)

casa batllo case study1

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