Barcelona’s streets are full of character, but so much of that can be attributed to the beautiful and peculiar work of Antoni Gaudí, the mind behind Parque Güell, Palacio Güell, the Sagrada Familia and Casa Batlló.
But while the street-side façade of the Casa, with its bony columns, elaborate paint and quirky rooftiles, is one of Barcelona’s most-visited landmarks (welcoming nearly 2 million people in 2024), the rear side, which used to be just as spectacular, has been in dire need of some TLC.
Its whimsical colours had faded, the ornate features had become tired and wrought-iron detailing on the building and its balconies had severely deteriorated. But now, thanks to a year-long €3.5 million project, the work to revitalise this fantastical building is complete.
Master artisans worked tirelessly with in-house researchers to produce iron, wood, glass and ceramic detailing, and according to Artnet, the process sounds pretty high-tech.
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Researchers conducted ‘stratigraphic tests’ to analyse the building’s layers of paint and their change over time, and compared those with documentary and photographic evidence to unveil the original colours of stucco, ironwork and woodwork designed by Gaudí.
‘When we discovered the original colors, we couldn’t believe it,’ said Xavier Villanueva, the project’s lead architect, in a statement, ‘The façade stood like the photographic negative of the original.’
But it’s not just the paintwork that needed restoring. Gaudí’s work is famous for its incorporation of mosaics, and the trencadís mosaics (made from irregular shards of glass, ceramic, and other bits and bobs that cover the façade’s side walls and cornice) were restored using the help of 3D scans and archival photographs. The Nolla, an 85,000-piece named after a late-nineteenth-century geometric designer in the courtyard, was painstakingly restored by the team, too.
So, Casa Batlló’s rear facade is looking pretty darn fresh. If you’re in Barcelona soon, make sure to pay it a visit – income from tourism made these restorations possible in the first place, after all.
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