Casa Batlló Opens Contemporary Art Space, Invites Artists to Reinterpret Gaudí

Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí's iconic Barcelona residence, has transformed from a potential house museum into a living platform for contemporary art. Acquired and restored by the Bernat family (founders of Chupa Chups) in the 1990s, it became the world's only privately owned UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Rather than static conservation, the institution now hosts a robust art program under María Bernat, who heads the art program. In 2026, after a three-year restoration by Mesura Architects, Casa Batlló Contemporary opened a permanent gallery on a previously inaccessible second floor. The space's second exhibition, "Gaudí–Miró–Gomis: Deconstructed," runs summer 2026 in collaboration with Fundació Joan Miró, featuring works by Joan Miró, photographs by Joaquim Gomis, and new installations by London-based Tomorrow Bureau. Since 2021, the institution has also commissioned annual façade mappings by digital artists like Refik Anadol, Quayola, and Sofía Crespo. In January 2026, British artist Matt Clark of United Visual Artists presented "Hidden Order," an audiovisual performance with choreographer Fukiko Takase and composer Daniel J. Thibaut, treating the building's façade as a collaborator. Bernat emphasizes that the goal is to keep Gaudí's legacy in dialogue with contemporary perspectives, not to confine it behind glass.