Description
Casa Amatller is a Modernista town house on Passeig de Gràcia, remodeled in 1898–1900 by Josep Puig i Cadafalch for the chocolate maker Antoni Amatller. It stands on the "Block of Discord" next to Gaudí's Casa Batlló, and it is easy to tell apart: a stepped gable of shining colored tiles crowns a facade that looks like a Gothic palace.
The gable, borrowed from the town houses of the Low Countries, hides the roof and the attic. Below it the upper floors are covered in sgraffito, the scratched plaster typical of Catalonia, while the main floor has an ornate iron balcony and a richly worked bay window.
The sculptures are by Eusebi Arnau. On the facade Saint George fights the dragon, and among the carvings are odd little figures that reward a close look, such as a rat holding a camera. Fittingly, Puig also built Amatller a photographic studio on the roof.
Inside, a Gothic-style courtyard leads to the private staircase of the main floor, lit from above by a stained-glass ceiling. Here the family lived among mosaic floors, tiled walls, stained glass, a fireplace carved by Arnau and furniture designed by the architect himself.
Amatller was more than a chocolatier: he was a keen amateur of archaeology. After his death in 1910 his daughter Teresa lived on in the house until 1960. Because the family never sold it, the rooms of 1900 have survived largely intact, and they are shown on guided tours as a historic house museum.
Following her father's wishes, in 1942 Teresa set up the Institut Amatller d'Art Hispànic on the main floor, a study center for Spanish art that is still based here. The house also has a café, a fitting tenant for a house built on chocolate.
The building itself is older than its look suggests: it was put up in 1875 as an ordinary apartment house. Puig turned it into an urban palace, and in 1976 it was listed as a protected monument of Spanish cultural heritage.
The gable, borrowed from the town houses of the Low Countries, hides the roof and the attic. Below it the upper floors are covered in sgraffito, the scratched plaster typical of Catalonia, while the main floor has an ornate iron balcony and a richly worked bay window.
The sculptures are by Eusebi Arnau. On the facade Saint George fights the dragon, and among the carvings are odd little figures that reward a close look, such as a rat holding a camera. Fittingly, Puig also built Amatller a photographic studio on the roof.
Inside, a Gothic-style courtyard leads to the private staircase of the main floor, lit from above by a stained-glass ceiling. Here the family lived among mosaic floors, tiled walls, stained glass, a fireplace carved by Arnau and furniture designed by the architect himself.
Amatller was more than a chocolatier: he was a keen amateur of archaeology. After his death in 1910 his daughter Teresa lived on in the house until 1960. Because the family never sold it, the rooms of 1900 have survived largely intact, and they are shown on guided tours as a historic house museum.
Following her father's wishes, in 1942 Teresa set up the Institut Amatller d'Art Hispànic on the main floor, a study center for Spanish art that is still based here. The house also has a café, a fitting tenant for a house built on chocolate.
The building itself is older than its look suggests: it was put up in 1875 as an ordinary apartment house. Puig turned it into an urban palace, and in 1976 it was listed as a protected monument of Spanish cultural heritage.