One of Barcelona’s most distinctive buildings—Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Battlo—has a new tenant, a contemporary art gallery that has opened in spaces that were originally rented as apartments.
The building, whose unusual facade has given it a local nickname of ‘House of Bones,’ was built in 1906 for the Battlo family, who lived on the first floor for fifty years, with space above rented as apartments. The building, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been a popular spot for visitors since the 1990s.
The gallery, Casa Battlo Contemporary, occupies apartment space that has not been open to the public. It’s an outgrowth of an art program that aims to connect today’s artists with Gaudi’s legacy, but previously had no space for rotating exhibits of the works created.
Maria Bernat, director of Casa Batlló Contemporary, says the gallery “aims to foster a dialogue between the past and future, situating Antoni Gaudí’s legacy within a contemporary framework.
