"It’s easy to see why Casa Batlló has been likened to Claude Monet’s Water Lilies: covered in shards of stained glass, the façade given a restorative facelift in 2019—sometimes appears blue, then green, then shimmering like the glassy layer of a lake. Even in a city stuffed with beautiful buildings, Casa Batlló (pronounced ‘Casa Bat-yo’) feels otherworldly. Textile industrialist Josep Batlló commissioned Gaudí to design this home after seeing what Gaudí had done with Park Güell—his brief was to create a house style that none of Batlló’s other family members would have, and which also paid homage to Catalonia’s patron saint, Jordi (who you’ll know as Saint George of dragon-slaying fame). The result is both grand and intimate—and, per the instructions, unique. You come for the architecture—or, rather, to get your head around the architecture. Influenced by nature, Casa Batlló has no straight lines (because they don’t exist in nature, said Gaudí), stone pillars that contort like animal bones, and a tall, ocean-blue stairwell that’s very Jules Verne. Inside the Gaudí Dome, 1000 screens and 38 projectors animate the architect’s inspiration process. While the LED-walled Gaudí Cube immortalizes his imagination. Digital art pioneer, Refik Anadol, used machine learning to unpick the patterns running through Gaudí’s out-there constructions and then turned them into an audiovisual experience. It’s vivid, kaleidoscopic stuff—and very smart." - Gemma Askham
