The site

Casa Batlló, a modernist style building in Barcelona, is the result of the renovation of an austere building designed in 1877 by Emilio Sala Cortés who was Antoni Gaudí’s teacher during his architecture studies. Initially, the plan was to demolish the house. However, Antoni Gaudí's bold initiative changed that course. Instead of tearing down the building, it was decided to undertake a complete renovation. This transformed the classic-style structure into a modernist masterpiece brimming with creativity and imagination between 1904 and 1906.

Natural light illuminates every corner of Casa Batlló thanks to the main skylight and two central patios decorated in blue tones, where the light is distributed. The upper tiles on the patios are darker than the lower ones and the windows increase in size the lower we descend. Thanks to these two innovative ideas – the colour graduations and the size of the windows – Antoni Gaudí successful achieved equally distributing light through the different floors.

Antoni Gaudí designed an original ventilation system, including different openings on the house’s windows. These openings are manual and make it possible to regulate the air with precision, without having to open the windows fully. In turn, the design of the central patios, where most of the air enters, helps to maintain the heat in winter and ventilate in summer. Thus, Antoni Gaudí, the engineer, achieved in the beginning of the 20th century maximum comfort following energy efficiency criteria.

Due to its outstanding universal value, Casa Batlló was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2005. In 2024, the museum commemorates an important milestone in its history, celebrating both the 120th anniversary of the beginning of Antoni Gaudí's project in this emblematic house and the 200th anniversary of Passeig de Gràcia – the world-famous avenue where the extraordinary building is located.

The project

The European Heritage Volunteers Project in 2024 marks another step in the ongoing collaboration between European Heritage Volunteers and Casa Batlló. This partnership, which began in 2019 and continued in 2021, has been successful in integrating educational activities within the European Heritage Volunteers Programme alongside the conservation efforts carried out by Casa Batlló in their mission to preserve Antoni Gaudí's legacy. The work and the activities during the project will combine with the special setting provided an extraordinary opportunity for the participants to immerse themselves in the world and genius of Antoni Gaudi, one of the most remarkable and unique modernist architects in the world.

The work in the project will take place at three different areas, where the participants will have the privilege to experience three different kinds of archival work done at archives engaging in the conservation and research of documental evidence of historical relevance.

The main part of the work will take place in Casa Amatller, the neighbouring historical house to Casa Batlló and contemporary to it, but built in a completely different architectural style, which also functions as a museum. In this house the Instituto Amatller d'Art Hispanic can be found, which contains a vast collection of photographic historical documentation from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. Casa Batlló collaborates closely with the archive of the Instituto Amatller d'Art Hispanic, since the photographs it contains have already in the past been a source of invaluable information for Casa Batlló in their research about the contextual historical period in which Antoni Gaudí lived and worked. Additionally, the photos discovered through detailed cataloguing of un-documented images, have also provided surprising findings which aided the restorers to recreate elements of the house when found missing, contributing to the protection of the authenticity of the site and to the conservation efforts led by the site management of Casa Batlló.

At Instituto Amatller d'Art Hispanic, the participants will be tasked to work in the cleaning, documentation, cataloguing and digitalisation of a collection of ambrotype photographs, which were taken around the beginning of the 20th century. The participants will be guided by one of the expert curators at the archive and learn about the different processes involved in the conservation of this kind of archival documentation, as well as the relevance of their cataloguing and documentation which will allow for future research into the period.

Another location for the work will be the Royal Gaudí Chair, a documentation centre belonging to the Barcelona School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, dedicated to the study and conservation of the work of Antoni Gaudí. There, the participants will support archival activities of historical documents incorporating them in a digital database.

Finally, archival work will also take place at Casa Batlló’s World Heritage Office, engaging participants in the interior workings of the site management. This experience offers insights not only into the daily operations aimed at providing visitors with unique experiences at this world-class museum but also into the ways in which these experiences impact visitors, as reflected in the visitor books accompanying different exhibitions.

The educational part of the project will be provided through guided visits and discussions. The participants will be treated to special visits to the museum and other sites led by the World Heritage Officer at Casa Batlló, which allowed to a unique perspective into the work of Antoni Gaudi.

The project will take place from October 13th to October 26th, 2024, and is organised by Casa Batlló in collaboration with European Heritage Volunteers.