Casa Batlló

The Baglio House is a residential building reconstructed by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudi for textile magnate Josep Baglio y Casanovas. To do this, Gaudi rebuilt the ground floor, added two facades to the building, and also created a single courtyard, which improved ventilation and interior lighting. In this building, a special style of architecture was manifested, without regard to the generally accepted styles of architecture.

Antonio was working on Park Guell when he received an order to build a house for the tycoon. But after examining the houses, he dissuaded the owner from destroying the house and offered to overhaul it. Leaving the main part of the house unchanged, Gaudi began designing the facades of the building. In addition, the mezzanine and the lower floor were redeveloped, which featured fancy furniture, an attic, a stepped terrace and a basement. During the construction, the layout of the courtyard was redesigned, which improved ventilation, as well as daytime lighting of the house. Gaudi also used a similar design in the construction of the Mila House.

The first thing that catches your eye in the Baglio house is the straightness in the building's designs. In all the details of the facade there are waves and other uneven figures, which are interpreted by researchers as a dragon figure. Gaudi adored dragons and tried to portray them in one way or another in all his creations. Saint George is considered the protector of Catalonia, who defeated the dragon. In the Baglio house, George thrusting his sword into the dragon is depicted in the St. George's cross standing on the turret of the building. And the facade of the building is symbolized by a dragon with sparkling scales lying on its victims, whose figures are seen in the form of the columns of the mezzanine and the balcony. For this individuality, the Baglio House is sometimes called the House of Bones.

In all his creations, Gaudi painstakingly thought through all the details of the design. When decorating the courtyard, uniform lighting was achieved by using ceramic cladding of different color saturation. On the lower floors, light ceramics were used, and as they moved upward, they changed their color from white to blue, and to achieve the desired effect, the windows shrank with increasing height.

All the decorations and furniture of the building were made by the best craftsmen in their field. Stained glass windows by glassblower Josepe Pelegri were used during the decoration, ceramics were made by Sebastian y Ribot, the cladding of the main facade was made on the island of Mallorca. The furniture made by Gaudi for the interior of the house is currently in the Gaudi Museum in Park Guell.

The Baglio house is located next to the Amalie house and the Lleo Morera house, which are located in the "disagreement quarter", which got its name because of the peculiar modernist buildings. In 1993, the Baglio house was bought by the Bernat family. After a short restoration, the Baglio house opened its doors to everyone and is now one of the attractions of Barcelona.