Casa Batlló Contemporary
To intervene in the iconic Casa Batlló is to engage in dialogue with a living legacy. This new floor is conceived as an echo of Gaudí—respectful, but not imitative. A single gesture unfolds into space, bridging past and present through form, color, and innovation.
Images courtesy of Casa Batlló.
An Echo of Gaudí
The guiding concept of the intervention is to be an echo of Gaudí’s work—a reverberation that honors the spirit without imitation. To achieve this, we designed an iconic element that defines the character of the room: a curved metallic ceiling inspired by the waves of the Mediterranean Sea.
This surface incorporates a robotic serigraphy that traces the concentric ripples produced by a drop falling into still water. It is a symbolic image, but also a structural one. Just as Gaudí explored organic geometries to optimize his buildings, this topography transforms thin metallic sheets—only 3mm thick—into a self-supporting structure.
The ceiling, therefore, is not a decorative layer. It is the essence of the space: a poetic gesture rooted in technical precision, a whisper of Gaudí’s language reinterpreted through contemporary tools.
A drop falling into still water, the symbolic gesture that guides the essence of the project. Source unknown.
Casa Batlló’s façade, a mosaic of ceramics evoking the scales of a dragon. Courtesy of Casa Batlló.
Dialogue, Not Mimesis
From the outset, we resisted the temptation to imitate Gaudí. Instead, we sought to understand his values: innovation, experimentation, symbolism, and a constant dialogue with nature.
This exploration guided the project towards a language that speaks with Casa Batlló without disguising itself. The intervention avoids pastiche; it chooses to engage in conversation. Gaudí’s spirit is present not in literal forms, but in the way materials are challenged, in the precision of geometries, and in the embrace of new techniques.
Through this attitude, the room acquires a dual identity: deeply Gaudian in its conceptual roots, and distinctly contemporary in its material expression.
Innovation as Tradition
Gaudí was a radical innovator of his time, collaborating with artisans to push materials beyond convention. Our project follows that same experimental path.
To craft the ceiling, we collaborated with Oxido Studio, specialists in advanced metalwork. The result emerged through incremental forming technology—a process borrowed from industrial prototyping, commonly employed in the automotive sector but never before applied in architecture. A robotic arm compresses and stretches metallic sheets into unique parametric geometries; assembled together, these singular pieces create a continuous undulating surface.
This approach embodies both innovation and respect. Just as Gaudí transformed complexity into structure with catenary arches or branching columns, we sought to endow light, flexible sheets with strength through curvature. Innovation, in this sense, is not a departure from Gaudí—it is fidelity to his restless spirit.
Using incremental forming, Oxido Studio adapts a process from industrial automotive prototyping to their own creative workflow.
Intricate carved woodwork at Casa Batlló. Courtesy of Casa Batlló.
Original tiles from Casa Batlló will be carefully restored and incorporated into the new flooring.
A Contemporary Resonance
The challenge of an exhibition space is to give identity to emptiness. With only the ceiling and the floor as our canvas, we introduced two subtle yet powerful gestures.
The ceiling carries the organic geometries of nature, evoking the ripples of water. The floor, by contrast, brings color: a green tone that recalls the carpentries of Casa Batlló’s façade. By drawing this chromatic accent inward, we remain within Gaudí’s palette without introducing foreign notes.
Together, these gestures define a space that bridges past and present. It is not a room frozen in history, but a living organism capable of resonating with new generations. Casa Batlló Contemporary is conceived as a sensory and emotional experience, one that continues Gaudí’s legacy not by repeating it, but by expanding it—like a ripple that grows outward, preserving the essence of the drop that set it in motion.
Tile distribution reference. Source unknown.
Casa Batlló's façade. Courtesy of Casa Batlló.
