Casa Battló

The corners will vanish, and the material will reveal itself in the wealth of its astral curves… and it will be like a vision of Paradise. Antoni Gaudí

Adjacent to Puig's Casa Amatller is a building that in many ways complements it and acts as a foil. As playful as it often is, there is something solid and material about the Casa Amattler; the Casa Batlló is the stuff of dreams.

Like the other two 'apples of discord' on the Passeig de Gràcia, this house was already built in 1904 when Gaudí was commissioned by its owner, textile tycoon Josep Batlló, to give it a facelift and make it look less dowdy next to the fancy chocolate baron's pad next door.

Battló got his money's worth. Among other things, he got the biggest St Jordi and the dragon in Barcelona—the entire façade is covered in a rippling scaly blue-green skin of ceramic plaques (carefully painted with dabs of colour, according the Gaudí's direction) and trencadis that shimmer by day and glitter magically in the street lights.