a bone like piece of stonework in front of the living room window, casa battlo, barcelona, spain

casa batllo (pronounce casa batyo) is a building designed by antoni gaudi and built in years 1905 to 1907 and located at 43, passeig de gracia (passeig is catalan for promenade or avenue), part of the manzana de la discordia in the eixample district.

the local name for the building is casa dels ossos (house of bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. it was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of barcelona.

the building looks remarkable. like everything gaudi designed, only identifiable as modernisme or art nouveau in the broadest sense.

it seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. much of the facade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. a common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the sword of saint george, which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.