Gaudí’s casa batlló opens new contemporary art gallery
Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí’s 1906 Barcelona landmark and UNESCO World Heritage site, adds a new layer to its long history with a permanent exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art. Opening on January 31st, 2026, the gallery occupies a 230-square-meter second-floor apartment that has remained closed to the public for decades. Barcelona-based studio Mesura restores the space and includes new architectural interventions.
The inaugural exhibition, Beyond the Facade, will be staged by United Visual Artists (UVA), founded by Matt Clark. The exhibition is paired with UVA’s commission for the building’s iconic facade, featuring a new projection mapping piece created for the fifth edition of Casa Batlló’s annual mapping festival. Conceived as a prologue, the facade work will launch the same day the gallery opens.
image by Anibal Trejo
inaugural show by united visual artists explores cycles of life
The initiative, called Casa Batlló Contemporary, signals a major step in how the building engages with present-day culture. For the first time, Gaudí’s modernist interiors are renovated to host two contemporary art shows annually, accessible either as part of the full visitor route or with a standalone ticket. According to program director Maria Bernat, the aim is to ‘foster a dialogue between the past and future,’ situating Gaudí’s radical vision within a contemporary framework.
The opening show will center on London-based art practice UVA’s exploration of cycles of life through light and movement. Known for projects that merge art, architecture, and technology, UVA has previously exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, YCAM in Tokyo, and the Sydney Biennale. Their installation at Casa Batlló invites visitors to glimpse themselves within shifting patterns of light.
render of Casa Batlló Contemporary Exhibition Space, courtesy of Mesura
mesura’s architectural intervention
Transforming Gaudí’s domestic floor into a gallery posed a delicate challenge. Historically, the second floor housed private apartments before later serving as a conservation workshop. Mesura’s intervention restores original features such as woodwork and stained glass while introducing a new architectural language. Central to the redesign is a curved metal ceiling screen-printed with concentric ripples, resembling water disturbed by a drop. Produced with robotic technology, it provides both structural support and a distinct identity without overwhelming Gaudí’s hand. ‘Our goal was to create an echo of his work, a whisper that adds to his universe without altering it,’ explains Carlos Dimas, partner at Mesura.
graphic study of casa batlló facade mapping | courtesy of United Visual Artists
gaudí’s legacy in the 21st century
The project is timed to coincide with the centenary of Gaudí’s death in 2026, as well as Barcelona’s designation as World Capital of Architecture. For Casa Batlló’s directors, the new gallery embodies the idea of ’21st-century heritage’: a cultural institution that is both rigorously preserved and actively reinterpreted. General director Gary Gautier emphasizes that the gallery reinforces Casa Batlló’s role as a cultural beacon, expanding its identity beyond conservation toward innovation.
The transformation also reflects long-term planning. The new space was envisioned in Casa Batlló’s 2015 Master Plan, which set guidelines for conservation, use, and dissemination of the building. “Something we envisioned 10 years ago will soon become a reality: reviving a historic space, opening it to the city, and giving it a new purpose,” says chief architect Xavier Villanueva.
Casa Batlló has already become a platform for digital and media-based art, commissioning works since 2021 from Refik Anadol, Sofía Crespo, and Quayola for its facade and interiors. With the launch of Casa Batlló Contemporary, those interventions expand into a permanent curatorial program. The new gallery positions the building not only as a historic icon of modernisme but also as an active participant in Barcelona’s avant-garde cultural scene.
graphic study of casa batlló facade mapping | courtesy of United Visual Artists
Matt Clark portrait | image by Anne Ray, courtesy of United Visual Artists
project info:
name: Casa Batlló Contemporary
location: Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain
architecture: Mesura
facade mapping 2026: United Visual Artists
area: 230 sqm second-floor gallery
opening: 31 January 2026
initiator: Casa Batlló Master Plan (2015)
