Casa Batlo and La Pedrera by Gaudi were actually built as social housing. La Pedrera is still in use. It’s actually a misconception that utilitarian architecture should be ugly. It’s a Le Corbusier theory that unfortunately took roots in our ‘modern’ culture. There where other competing views on how to build the modern city but inexplicably his won.
It’s not cheaper to build ugly hospitals. The main hospital in Vienna was a staggering 4.5 billion. It’s so ugly! Its construction turned into a huge bribery scandal.
Needless to say, I love Art Nouveau and as I was standing on the rooftop of Casa Batlo looking around at the world we built for ourselves I wanted to weep. And Barcelona is a beautiful city. You should see where I grew up.
Lovely article and photography. Thanks for writing this! 💚
Thank you! I can't find anything about Casa Batlló and La Pedrera originally being social housing? Both seem to have been constructed for wealthy families to live in.
And yes, there's no reason to say that practical buildings should be ugly, it's just that they're more likely to be compared to houses (people generally want to live in something beautiful) or parks, concert halls, restaurants etc. (places meant to enjoy life, so beauty is part of the point). Practical or utilitarian buildings can be built with interesting architecture, but since that doesn't help them fulfil their function, and since it is generally somewhat more expensive since you need to hire architects, custom ornamentation etc., that option gets chosen less often. Besides, beauty doesn't make them immune to bribery scandals!
Social housing may be unprecise, but both buildings had apartments for rent in the upper floors. Due to rent control systems imposed after the civil war, tenants did not pay market rate to live there.
I don't totally agree because when you look at the history of architecture and land planning you will see the different currents, beliefs and blueprints for how we should live. The people who managed to impose their blueprints (Le Corbusier for the communist looking architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright for the American car city) didn't necessarily come up with the cheapest ideas. They were just more appealing at that time.
Sure, you can have expensive buildings that are ugly (or, more objectively, non-ornamented etc.). And non-expensive buildings can be beautiful. But I maintain that most of the time, making an explicit effort to add beauty costs money.
I don't know. I don't think we should give up on beauty so fast in favour of utilitarianism. We still spend a lot of money on building our cities but the money go in the wrong place. For example, in Vienna it's a requirement to build parking spaces for every apartment building. Instead of investing money in better materials for the building itself, the builder is forced to use funds for parking spaces. Some builder requested a special permit to NOT build parking spaces and managed to produce some very beautiful social housing.
I do agree that we don't need so many ornaments. And thanks for the linked article, I will read it.
I'm very opinionated here, but really I love your writing and loved this article and the photos. 🙏
I don't mind an opinionated discussion, on the contrary!
To be clear, I'm not saying we "should" give up on trying to make even the most practical buildings beautiful; I'm trying to explain why it often doesn't happen. I think cost is a more compelling explanation than builders wanting to follow modernist architectural fashion, though fashion is also part of the story (as are other factors, including legal requirements). Ideally, in a wealthy society, we just pay those costs because they're not that large compared to our wealth. But too often there are large cost constraints. Figuring out ways to create beauty within those constraints is a worthwhile goal!
I think -for all the great interiors..the hospital does lack in human scale, so to say...what works amazing when it has to give a feeling of majesty, doesn't neccessarily work well in settings where people would maybe rather feel more ..like they're not in a church or a castle. Of course modern hospitals are not the greatest in creating such scale either, they are often just more utilitarian, and frankly, unwelcoming . But I might feel more prone to dying under such high ceilings...everything calls you "up! leave this place behind"))
Also, orange trees do make everything better....but people get sick just the same. I'm surrounded by orange trees I explained. I love them. I prefer to be surrounded by them. But do they speed healing? Eh. Not from what I noticed.
True, I hadn't thought about the scale. For a large dormitory room, the high ceilings seem fine to me, but a better hospital would probably be more cozy (and have smaller and more private rooms).
They did build like that before-very high ceilings. Can be very disconcerting-I've been to polyclinics(or how they're called? outpatient clinics, probably), in older buildings, and couple times, briefly in very old hospitals-architecture is gorgeous, by itself, yes, you're right, not cozy...one feels very lost.
Of course-I was talking about the scale aka ceiling height etc. Otherwise I'm all for beauty that is everywhere yet somehow doen't always lift the spirit, and I'm a big, no, huge, fan of colorful tiles(and orange trees even though they don't seem to speed the healing). I'm yet to visit Spain but I live in a very similar climate. Lucky me, no, seriously. Even though it started to rain vehemently as I type it now-like somebody somewhere disagrees)))
I LOVE colourful tiles and I actually discovered orange trees in Spain. I hope you'll have the occasion to visit one day. There's an orange tree patio in front of the old mesquita (old mosque turned church) in Granada. It's beautiful because it's laid out by the moorish with an ancient irrigation system.
I envy you for living in a similar climate to Spain! We're just coming out of winter here in Austria.
I hope so too-and Granada and Cordova, they're on my dream list, for many-many years already.
(yeah...not a winter person myself. I actually was born in temperate climate, my childhood spent in it, winters and all, then for work lived again in similar, for a few years-I miss some things about it of course, in a nostalgic sort of way, but not it itself. There are few glorious months, of course-when all blooms, and when the leaves change color...)
))) No, but I'm switching between different places with the same climate-I'd call it subtropical though. Mediterranean. Like in Spain.
*for dream vacations, I tend to pick tropical- jungles, and warm seas because I love snorkling. And I do love colors. Color is relaxing to me. It's been a long time since dream vacations too.
It is not well known that the Architect, Lluis Domenechi i Montaner, was also a very good project manager, who usually delivered on time and on budget. The best example is his commission for the World Fair in Barcelona. He devised a modular pavilion in Art Noveau style made of cast iron elements that where reusable. The pavilion was built fast and cheaply. A good part of the cost was recovered when the pavilion was disassembled.
The use of Art Noveau style in practical buildings was widespread during that period in Catalonia. Two examples that come to mind are the cooperative cellars in Pinell de Brai and the Colonia Güell. Countles factories were built in Art Noveau style. An example is the building that now hosts Caixa Forum in Barcelona.
Interesting, thanks! It's true that I exaggerated when saying very few practical buildings were built in that style; come to think of it there are also factories in other parts of Europe from the first decade of the 1900s that come to mind, like the Yenidze cigarette factory in Germany.
The idea that advances in construction techniques and project management allowed relatively cheap yet highly ornamented projects to be built, even for factories, is a very interesting data point. I think it may support my theory that ornamentation became less tasteful precisely because its cost fell thanks to industrialisation, starting only a few years after Art Nouveau.
Paramedic: « We got a 33 yo male with an acute acitrussinensisnosis. »
Dr X: « Quick! Bring him to the orangerie! »
🍊
See: Roger Ulrich. View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, April 27, 1984. Page 420-1.
Patients with views of nature had shorter hospital stays after surgery.
Wouldn’t mind it especially when the trees are in bloom.
Casa Batlo and La Pedrera by Gaudi were actually built as social housing. La Pedrera is still in use. It’s actually a misconception that utilitarian architecture should be ugly. It’s a Le Corbusier theory that unfortunately took roots in our ‘modern’ culture. There where other competing views on how to build the modern city but inexplicably his won.
It’s not cheaper to build ugly hospitals. The main hospital in Vienna was a staggering 4.5 billion. It’s so ugly! Its construction turned into a huge bribery scandal.
Needless to say, I love Art Nouveau and as I was standing on the rooftop of Casa Batlo looking around at the world we built for ourselves I wanted to weep. And Barcelona is a beautiful city. You should see where I grew up.
Lovely article and photography. Thanks for writing this! 💚
Thank you! I can't find anything about Casa Batlló and La Pedrera originally being social housing? Both seem to have been constructed for wealthy families to live in.
And yes, there's no reason to say that practical buildings should be ugly, it's just that they're more likely to be compared to houses (people generally want to live in something beautiful) or parks, concert halls, restaurants etc. (places meant to enjoy life, so beauty is part of the point). Practical or utilitarian buildings can be built with interesting architecture, but since that doesn't help them fulfil their function, and since it is generally somewhat more expensive since you need to hire architects, custom ornamentation etc., that option gets chosen less often. Besides, beauty doesn't make them immune to bribery scandals!
Social housing may be unprecise, but both buildings had apartments for rent in the upper floors. Due to rent control systems imposed after the civil war, tenants did not pay market rate to live there.
I don't totally agree because when you look at the history of architecture and land planning you will see the different currents, beliefs and blueprints for how we should live. The people who managed to impose their blueprints (Le Corbusier for the communist looking architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright for the American car city) didn't necessarily come up with the cheapest ideas. They were just more appealing at that time.
Sure, you can have expensive buildings that are ugly (or, more objectively, non-ornamented etc.). And non-expensive buildings can be beautiful. But I maintain that most of the time, making an explicit effort to add beauty costs money.
The core question, of course, is how expensive ornamentation and other decorative elements are, which is what I tried (and failed) to answer two weeks ago: https://etiennefd.substack.com/p/how-expensive-is-architectural-ornamentation
I don't know. I don't think we should give up on beauty so fast in favour of utilitarianism. We still spend a lot of money on building our cities but the money go in the wrong place. For example, in Vienna it's a requirement to build parking spaces for every apartment building. Instead of investing money in better materials for the building itself, the builder is forced to use funds for parking spaces. Some builder requested a special permit to NOT build parking spaces and managed to produce some very beautiful social housing.
I do agree that we don't need so many ornaments. And thanks for the linked article, I will read it.
I'm very opinionated here, but really I love your writing and loved this article and the photos. 🙏
I don't mind an opinionated discussion, on the contrary!
To be clear, I'm not saying we "should" give up on trying to make even the most practical buildings beautiful; I'm trying to explain why it often doesn't happen. I think cost is a more compelling explanation than builders wanting to follow modernist architectural fashion, though fashion is also part of the story (as are other factors, including legal requirements). Ideally, in a wealthy society, we just pay those costs because they're not that large compared to our wealth. But too often there are large cost constraints. Figuring out ways to create beauty within those constraints is a worthwhile goal!
So true!
Great post, very interesting, thank you!
I think -for all the great interiors..the hospital does lack in human scale, so to say...what works amazing when it has to give a feeling of majesty, doesn't neccessarily work well in settings where people would maybe rather feel more ..like they're not in a church or a castle. Of course modern hospitals are not the greatest in creating such scale either, they are often just more utilitarian, and frankly, unwelcoming . But I might feel more prone to dying under such high ceilings...everything calls you "up! leave this place behind"))
Also, orange trees do make everything better....but people get sick just the same. I'm surrounded by orange trees I explained. I love them. I prefer to be surrounded by them. But do they speed healing? Eh. Not from what I noticed.
Again, thank you-beautiful post!!
True, I hadn't thought about the scale. For a large dormitory room, the high ceilings seem fine to me, but a better hospital would probably be more cozy (and have smaller and more private rooms).
They did build like that before-very high ceilings. Can be very disconcerting-I've been to polyclinics(or how they're called? outpatient clinics, probably), in older buildings, and couple times, briefly in very old hospitals-architecture is gorgeous, by itself, yes, you're right, not cozy...one feels very lost.
They don’t speed the healing? I’m disappointed.
I think the idea is that beauty lifts up the spirits. Why live in a dour grey world? Especially when one is sick.
Of course-I was talking about the scale aka ceiling height etc. Otherwise I'm all for beauty that is everywhere yet somehow doen't always lift the spirit, and I'm a big, no, huge, fan of colorful tiles(and orange trees even though they don't seem to speed the healing). I'm yet to visit Spain but I live in a very similar climate. Lucky me, no, seriously. Even though it started to rain vehemently as I type it now-like somebody somewhere disagrees)))
I LOVE colourful tiles and I actually discovered orange trees in Spain. I hope you'll have the occasion to visit one day. There's an orange tree patio in front of the old mesquita (old mosque turned church) in Granada. It's beautiful because it's laid out by the moorish with an ancient irrigation system.
I envy you for living in a similar climate to Spain! We're just coming out of winter here in Austria.
I hope so too-and Granada and Cordova, they're on my dream list, for many-many years already.
(yeah...not a winter person myself. I actually was born in temperate climate, my childhood spent in it, winters and all, then for work lived again in similar, for a few years-I miss some things about it of course, in a nostalgic sort of way, but not it itself. There are few glorious months, of course-when all blooms, and when the leaves change color...)
Correcting my fist note: The orange tree patio was in Cordova not Granada. ☺️
So now you're enjoying your tropical climate and never coming back?
))) No, but I'm switching between different places with the same climate-I'd call it subtropical though. Mediterranean. Like in Spain.
*for dream vacations, I tend to pick tropical- jungles, and warm seas because I love snorkling. And I do love colors. Color is relaxing to me. It's been a long time since dream vacations too.
https://etiennefd.substack.com/i/143202563/if-it-were-in-madrid-itd-be-the-best-thing-to-see-in-the-city
Yes, it's not the same, but in Madrid we've a nice hospital from that epoch.
Maybe worth it to visit the next time in Madrid.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_de_Maudes
Looks great!
It is not well known that the Architect, Lluis Domenechi i Montaner, was also a very good project manager, who usually delivered on time and on budget. The best example is his commission for the World Fair in Barcelona. He devised a modular pavilion in Art Noveau style made of cast iron elements that where reusable. The pavilion was built fast and cheaply. A good part of the cost was recovered when the pavilion was disassembled.
The use of Art Noveau style in practical buildings was widespread during that period in Catalonia. Two examples that come to mind are the cooperative cellars in Pinell de Brai and the Colonia Güell. Countles factories were built in Art Noveau style. An example is the building that now hosts Caixa Forum in Barcelona.
Interesting, thanks! It's true that I exaggerated when saying very few practical buildings were built in that style; come to think of it there are also factories in other parts of Europe from the first decade of the 1900s that come to mind, like the Yenidze cigarette factory in Germany.
The idea that advances in construction techniques and project management allowed relatively cheap yet highly ornamented projects to be built, even for factories, is a very interesting data point. I think it may support my theory that ornamentation became less tasteful precisely because its cost fell thanks to industrialisation, starting only a few years after Art Nouveau.