BARCELONA.- Located on the second floor of Casa Batlló a 230 m² space, closed for decades, will be transformed and redesigned by the Barcelona-based architecture firm Mesura.

Opening 31 January 2026, the inaugural exhibition in the space will feature United Visual Artists (UVA), the acclaimed London-based collective led by British artist Matt Clark. To coincide with this, UVA will unveil an ambitious projection mapping artwork for Casa Batlló’s iconic façade, commissioned by the house for the fifth edition of its celebrated annual public façade mapping event.

These initiatives fall under Casa Batlló Contemporary, a program that invites artists to collaborate with the museum to rethink and reimagine Gaudí’s enduring and storied legacy, which in 2026 coincides with the centenary year of the architect’s death.

Historically occupied by residential apartments and later used as a conservation and maintenance workshop, Casa Batlló’s second floor will, for the first time, open to the public as a gallery dedicated to contemporary art.

It will host two contemporary art exhibitions per year establishing itself as a new cultural hub in Barcelona. The new space will be accessible to the public either as part of the full Casa Batlló visitor experience or with a standalone ticket to the space.

Maria Bernat, Director of Casa Batlló Contemporary says: “Casa Batlló Contemporary aims to foster a dialogue between the past and future, situating Antoni Gaudí’s legacy within a contemporary framework. Through art and architecture, it explores his radical vision with present-day thinking, remaining faithful to his spirit of innovation and disruption while engaging with Barcelona’s dynamic artistic landscape.”

Beyond the Façade: The Opening Exhibition

The gallery will debut with Beyond the Façade, an exhibition by United Visual Artists the London-based art practice founded by Matt Clark. Their work, blending art, architecture, and technology, has been presented at institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts in London, YCAM in Tokyo, and the Sydney Biennale.

For the exhibition, UVA will explore life’s myriad cycles through light and movement, inviting visitors to glimpse themselves within the artwork. Matt Clark has also been selected as the artist for Casa Batlló’s 2026 Mapping, for which he will present a new piece for the façade, conceived as a prologue to the exhibition. The exhibition will open to the public on January 31, coinciding with the first day of the mapping.

Architectural Dialogue with Gaudí

The redesign of the second-floor space into a new gallery, directed by Mesura, preserves the building’s essence while articulating a contemporary architectural language.

It has been restored carefully preserving its original features—most notably the woodwork and stained glass—while being reimagined as a meeting point between architectural memory and contemporary artistic creation.

The space’s newest intervention is a curved metal ceiling, screen-printed with concentric ripples evoking a drop of water on a calm lake. Produced using robotic technology, it bestows the space with a distinct identity while fulfilling structural requirements.

“Intervening in a Gaudí building is both a dream and an enormous responsibility. 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.

A Commitment to 21st-Century Heritage

For Casa Batlló, the inauguration of this new gallery reaffirms its dual commitment to rigorous conservation and cultural innovation.

“We aspire for Casa Batlló to remain a cultural beacon both locally and globally, a reference for how living heritage can evolve with purpose, sensitivity, and innovation. Opening this space in the centenary of Gaudí’s death and in the framework of Barcelona as World Capital of Architecture represents a significant milestone for the city, enriching its cultural landscape” says Gary Gautier, General Director of Casa Batlló.

In this way, Casa Batlló asserts its identity as 21st-century heritage: radical and avant-garde, able to reinterpret its own history through contemporary art and architecture while remaining true to its essence.

The project originates from a proposal launched in 2015 within the framework of Casa Batlló’s Master Plan—a strategic management tool that sets the guiding principles for its conservation, use, and dissemination, and is endorsed by local institutions, the Ministry of Culture, and UNESCO.

“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 that continues to expand Gaudí’s legacy,” says Xavier Villanueva, Chief Architect of Casa Batlló.