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| The Casa Batlló (at right), in the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample of Barcelona |
Casa Batlló is a building designed by Antoni Gaudi and built in years 1905-1907; situated at 43, Passeig de Gràcia ('passeig' is Catalan for promenade or avenue) in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of bones). It was originally designed for a middle class family and situated in a well-off district of Barcelona.
The building looks very remarkable -- like everything Gaudi designed. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.
It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the front is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dinosaur.