From January 2026, visitors to Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s Casa Batll\u00f3 in Barcelona will gain access to the building\u2019s second floor for the very-first time. The space will open as a contemporary art gallery, and will expand on Casa Batll\u00f3 Contemporary, a programme designed to reinterpret Gaud\u00ed\u2019s legacy through artist commissions and new technology.<\/p>\n
The floor previously served as residential apartments, offices, and a maintenance workshop, which gradually erased much of its original architecture. It will now host two exhibitions per year, accessible either with general entry or with a standalone ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to bring back its atelier character,\u201d says Gary Gautier, the general director of Casa Batll\u00f3, which was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2005. \u201cWe have restored everything that was original, such as the marquetry, while giving the rest a sober, elegant character.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barcelona-based studio Mesura oversaw the redesign, installing a curved metal ceiling printed with concentric ripples that echo Gaud\u00ed\u2019s distinctive undulating forms. Carlos Dimas, a partner at the studio, says: \u201cIntervening in a Gaud\u00ed building is both a dream and an enormous responsibility. Our goal was to create an echo of his work, a whisper that adds to his universe without altering it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inaugural exhibition, opening 31 January 2026, will feature new works by United Visual Artists (UVA), the London-based art practice founded by the British artist Matt Clark. As part of the programme, UVA will also create a Mapping, the annual projection of monumental digital artworks on to Casa Batll\u00f3\u2019s modernist fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n
Since its launch in 2019, the sound and light event has attracted large crowds and become a popular fixture in the city\u2019s cultural agenda. Previous editions featured Refik Anadol, Sofia Crespo, and Quayola, whose 2024 projection Arborescent drew 110,000 spectators.<\/p>\n
Maria Bernat, the director of Casa Batll\u00f3 Contemporary, says: \u201cCasa Batll\u00f3 Contemporary aims to foster a dialogue between the past and future, situating Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s legacy within a contemporary framework. Through art and architecture, it explores his radical vision with present-day thinking, remaining faithful to his spirit of innovation and disruption while engaging with Barcelona\u2019s dynamic artistic landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The launch coincides with the centenary of Gaud\u00ed\u2019s death and follows the completion of a six-year-long, \u20ac30m restoration and hi-tech revamp, which added 2,000 sq. m for immersive exhibitions. It also follows the restoration of the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade, which was returned to its original design last June.<\/p>\n
Restoration work now will continue on the building’s rooftop chimneys and on its third floor, which was inhabited by tenants until 2019. This space is scheduled to open later in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From January 2026, visitors to Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s Casa Batll\u00f3 in Barcelona will gain access to the building\u2019s second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[114459,228,226,227,418,229,88,6360],"class_list":{"0":"post-198252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-antoni-gaudi","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-barcelona","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-openings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}