The back façade and courtyard of Antonio Gaudí’s iconic Casa Batlló in Barcelona has been restored to its original 1906 glory. Visitors to the building will now have the opportunity to see it the way Gaudí created it for the first time in more than a century.
Originally built in the late 19th century, the building was conventional and entirely unremarkable before textile tycoon Josep Batlló engaged Gaudí to remodel it. Between 1904 and 1906, he transformed the drab Victorian into an iridescent, curvilinear structure inspired by nature (coral reefs, marine animals, bones, mushrooms) and Saint George slaying the dragon, with the roof representing the dragon’s curved back and the tiles representing its scales.
While the front façade was a fantastical showpiece of Catalonian Modernisme (Barcelona’s version of Art Nouveau), the back was a private space. The Batlló family’s dining room on the Noble Floor opened up onto courtyard. It was conceived as a vertical garden, the architectural version of a flowering climbing vine like wisteria whose branches spread over a surface and connect to each other in an explosion of colorful blooms. The undulating balconies evoke the vine motif, while the courtyard featured bespoke jardinières full of plants and a unique parabolic heather pergola to create a soft, shaded backyard for the family to enjoy.
Gaudí’s original design of the back of the building didn’t even survive unscathed for a decade. Major modifications began in 1915 when the planters and the pergola were removed, and later additions obscured the original character of the rear façade even as the front became an icon of Barcelona, a top tourist destination and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Partial restorations in the 1950s and 1990s failed to recover what was lost, and the balconies and courtyard were in need of urgent repair.
The year-long, 3.5 million euro project is the first comprehensive approach to restoring Gaudí’s original vision for the back. The trencadís, mosaics made from broken ceramic tiles, glass and stucco that are one of Gaudí’s most recognizable signatures, on the sides and crown of the façade were cleaned and repaired, as were the ones on the courtyard walls. The planters and parabolic heather pergola that covered the center of the courtyard were recreated, and the mosaic paving was replicated by craftspeople using traditional techniques. The intricate wrought iron railings, mosaic floors, carved wooden windows and French doors of the balconies have all been restored.
The interventions seem to foster a dialogue between the building’s past and present through a particular focus on materiality. Over 85,000 pieces of Nolla mosaic, originally laid at the start of the nineteenth century in the courtyard, have been restored or replicated by hand, using enhanced materials to ensure durability outdoors. The trencadís mosaics, Antoni Gaudí’s signature patchwork of ceramics and glass, were largely preserved in situ where possible, or carefully reproduced using 3D scans and high-resolution archival imagery, keeping their original patterns intact.
Ironwork, including railings and pergola structures, has been restored by Enric Pla Montferrer’s workshop in Alpens. Where previous repairs had introduced welds, the team reinstated Gaudí’s original bolted modular system that was discovered thanks to original construction markings found on site. During the restoration, the team found that even the hidden structure supporting the balconies revealed surprises, such as a spiraling system of brick and reinforced vaults, radical for its time, and undocumented until this recent intervention.
Wooden elements, from the original muntins to balcony doors, were restored or recreated by heritage carpenter Josep Bartolí. Crucially, the original hues — long buried under decades of repainting — were uncovered through stratigraphic analysis, revealing a palette that echoes the green tones of Casa Batlló’s main facade. The stucco too revealed a dramatic shift from a bold black that had faded to a warm cream, reshaping how the entire rear facade is perceived in contrast to the theatrical flourish the building is otherwise celebrated for.
The work of the traditional artisans over the course of the restoration has been documented and recorded to give visitors to the building a glimpse into the complex restoration and Gaudí’s original techniques.
* This article was originally published here
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