ACCOMPANYING THE RE-OPENING OF CASA BATLLÓ TO THE PUBLIC, KENGO KUMA INSERTS INTO THE BUILDING THE UNDULATING ALUMINUM CURTAIN CHAINS WHICH MESMERIZINGLY REFLECT THE BUILDING’S ICONIC CHARACTER
TEXT: PRATCHAYAPOL LERTWICHA
PHOTO: IMAGENSUBLIMINAL (MIGUEL DE GUZMAN + ROCIO ROMERO)
(For Thai, press here)
Casa Batlló, a work by legendary architect, Antoni Gaudí, reopens its doors to the public after completing the restoration. Accompanying the return is “Casa Batlló 10D Experience’, an exhibition that invites the world’s leading architects and designers to curate an immersive viewing experience of this iconic piece of architecture. Renowned Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, is one of the people partaking in the project.
Kengo Kuma decorates the building’s underground floor and central staircase with the mesmerizing, undulating curtain made of over 164,000-meter long aluminum chains, that have been manufactured and installed with digitally calculated ranges and positions. The piece has Italian lighting designer Mario Nanni working with the architect, making the installation’s already visually striking form and details even more luminous.
The work reflects the iconic building’s characters and the quintessential Gaudi architecture with its curved lines and organic shapes. A new experience is rendered through the dynamic dimensions of light, shadow, and the material’s transitioning colors from the brightest tone at the top floor to the darkest shade at the lowest floor.
“We have imagined this space dressed in aluminum link curtains, which with their meticulous materiality catch the light, as if they were fishing nets, and shows it to us in all its diverse forms: brightness, silhouettes, shadows.”
Other outstanding works which will be featured at ‘Casa Batlló 10D Experience’ include ‘The Inspiration of the Genius’ by artist Miguel Alonso whose artistically devised mixed media exhibition tells the story of who Antoni Gaud is. Refik Anadol brings in the artificial intelligence technology to transform millions of Gaudi-related digital data into the media arts projected on walls of LED screens inside the exhibition room. 10D Experience is now open, with tickets available for purchase, and the exhibition will plan to continue until next year. Hopefully, we’ll get to see it with our own eyes soon.