Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudì was one strange dude, Gentle Readers.
I hadn’t been to Barcelona before our recent vacation, so I’d never seen Gaudì’s architecture in person. It’s unusual, to say the least. We visited Casa Batllò, which is an apartment building,
and, of course, Sagrada Familia, which has the dubious distinction of being the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Building began in the early 1880s. No need to rush these things ;)
You may recall my post about Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House in Chicago.
Visually, I don’t think that the work of Wright and Gaudì could be more different. Straight lines versus curves, order versus…not chaos exactly…let’s say unpredictability.
However. Given that the Robie House and Casa Batllò are contemporaries, which is MIND-BOGGLING to me (the Robie House was finished in 1910, and Casa Batllò was remodeled by Gaudì in 1906), I couldn’t help but look for similarities. I found a few.
First, both Gaudì and Wright drew heavily from nature. Wright stuck pretty close to the prairie, while Gaudì was less discriminating. Still, though: nature. The little audio-visual guide we were required to use at Casa Batllò was REALLY trying to sell us on a connection to underwater sea creatures, but that didn’t jive with me.
Given that there’s nary a straight line in the entire Casa, the whole building feels organic in a much broader way than fish and seaweed.
Second, both Gaudì and Wright designed furniture for their houses. Talk about controlling! But you have to admit: it would be hard to make other furniture work in these spaces.
And finally, neither Gaudì nor Wright cared what the neighbors thought. Because the architecture was so revolutionary, the Robie House and Casa Batllò didn’t exactly blend in with the houses around them. (Granted, the Robie House was surrounded primarily by prairie, but there were a few other residences nearby.)
In fact, Casa Batllò’s location is known as “Illa de la Discordia” — the Block of Discord.
It really is hard to capture Gaudì in photographs, Gentle Readers. The next time you find yourself in Barcelona, Casa Batllò is worth a visit.
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC. If you missed my latest interior design tips on NBC4, you can catch up via the link.