Restoration of the Batlló House

Barcelona, Barcelona, Cataluña.

Dating of the building: 1906.

Applicant: Casa Batlló, S.L.U.

Reason for the award :

For the excellent restoration of this Antonio Gaudí masterpiece and the innovations adopted to allow the blind to enjoy their visit.

Since its acquisition by the last owners, the Casa Batlló, a UNESCO world heritage site since 2005, has been restoring and opening up different spaces and floors to the public until making one of Gaudí’s masterpieces known to the public.

This landmark building in Barcelona was built by Antoni Gaudí between 1904 and 1906, commissioned by the textile industrialist Josep Batlló i Casanovas. At that time, Barcelona was a centre of cultural and artistic effervescence under the names of Renaixença and Modernism respectively. Gaudí, the only truly universal Spanish architect, knew how to channel all the creative wealth that existed in Barcelona to create one of his most perfect masterpieces, far from any contemporary influence. Perhaps, for this reason, both the political authority and his patron Güell granted Gaudí unprecedented creative freedom, which the Tarragona genius knew how to make the most of. The magnificence of the building, fully decorated according to the architect’s slogans, went unnoticed for decades, and the property suffered deterioration caused by disinterest and time. Its acquisition by Casa Batlló S.L, founded in 1994, meant a change in the use of the estate, and the beginning of a long delicate refurbishing process of years, which has managed to restore all its beauty to Gaudí’s masterpiece.

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