{"id":9276,"date":"2026-06-11T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=9276"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:08:24","slug":"house-of-bones-proves-gaudi-is-very-hard-to-imitate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/11\/house-of-bones-proves-gaudi-is-very-hard-to-imitate\/","title":{"rendered":"House of Bones proves Gaud\u00ed is “very hard to imitate”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Casa<\/div>\n

Continuing our Gaud\u00ed Centenary<\/a> series, we look at Barcelona’s House of Bones, Casa Batll\u00f3, which Antoni Gaud\u00ed<\/a> covered with mosaics, skeletal shapes and topped with a scaly, reptilian roof.<\/span><\/p>\n

Located on Barcelona<\/a>‘s central Passeig de Gr\u00e0cia boulevard, Casa Batll\u00f3 is one of Gaud\u00ed’s best-known and most unique works.<\/p>\n

Now a museum<\/a>, the ceramic and bone-covered house exemplifies the architect’s unique take on Catalan modernism, something that the museum’s director describes as “very hard to imitate”.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior
Casa Batll\u00f3’s facade is clad in ceramic tiles and glass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It’s very hard to imitate Gaud\u00ed,” Casa Batll\u00f3 director general Gary Gautier told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“Gaud\u00ed’s buildings are more about art than about architecture \u2013 or at least not just architecture, but including art in meaningful ways in many places of the building, not just solving the challenges that architecture was facing, but also sometimes ornamentally,” he continued.<\/p>\n

“And when there’s so much richness or art per square meter, the entire building becomes a piece of art, and that is very tough to do.”<\/p>\n

\"Casa
Its skeletal pillars have given the building the nickname House of Bones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally built in 1877 by architect Emili Sala Cort\u00e9s, one of Gaud\u00ed’s professors at Escuela T\u00e9cnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, the six-storey house was overhauled by Gaud\u00ed between 1904 and 1906 for businessman Josep Batll\u00f3 I Casanovas.<\/p>\n

Gaud\u00ed extended the house upwards and at its rear, but the most visible alteration was the transformation of the previously sombre facade.<\/p>\n

He created a sculptural facade that contrasted with the neighbouring homes through the addition of numerous balconies, some of which were supported by skeletal shapes, leading the building to become known locally as Casa dels Ossos, meaning the House of Bones.<\/p>\n

\"Roof
Scale-like tiles decorate its roof<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gaud\u00ed wrapped Casa Batll\u00f3’s facade in ceramic cladding with colourful, broken-glass fragments in predominantly blue and green hues, creating a maritime colour palette.<\/p>\n

He topped the house with a roof covered in tiles that resemble scales on the back of a large reptilian creature. This has been said to reference the patron saint of Catalonia, St George, who, according to legend, slew a dragon.<\/p>\n

Like Gaud\u00ed’s famous Sagrada Familia, the roof also features a four-armed cross pointing in the cardinal directions. Gaud\u00ed, who was deeply religious and has been called God’s architect, often included crosses in his designs.<\/p>\n

The building’s single tower also has the initials JHS for Jesus, M for Mary and JHP for Joseph on it, another religious allusion that shows how important his faith was to Gaud\u00ed’s work.<\/p>\n

“[In] one of his quotes, Gaud\u00ed says something like ‘If you’re not building or doing something that is eternal, it’s not worth doing it,'” Gautier said.<\/p>\n

\"Lightwell
A tile-clad light well illuminates Casa Batll\u00f3’s interior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gaud\u00ed also overhauled the interior of the house and added smart solutions to take advantage of natural light and ventilation.<\/p>\n

As part of the renovation, he turned one existing lightwell into two to draw light into the entire house, and added adjustable wooden shutters to many of its windows to let the inhabitants control its ventilation. These have carved organic shapes and still function today.<\/p>\n

“He came up with innovations that addressed the ventilation challenges that many buildings were facing at the end of the 1800s, and he also created a lot of solutions to light up the rooms where the electricity could not get,” Gautier said.<\/p>\n