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The Casa Amatller (Amatller House) of the architect, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and the marked Modernism style, was constructed by the chocolate businessman Antoni Amatller in the famous Passeig de Gràcia of the count city.
Puig projected a façade that was classified by the critic Alexandre Cirici Pellicer as "the apotheosis of the decorative arts", since it combines with harmony, works of sgraffito, forges of iron, ceramic and stone and wood sculpture.
The visitor may enter free of charge in the building, and then in the lobby, one may contemplate the impressive bronze lamps and the elegant staircase in the principal access of the apartment, inspired by the Catalan Gothic palaces, and covered by an extraordinary stain glass window. Behind a stain glassed coloured door and where the kitchen of the garage and the house staff was previously, you find nowadays the Centre of Modernism. This apartment occupies the headquarters of
Institut Amatller d'Art Hispànic. The whole level is a combination of wonder of noble materials, along with the façade, it is enriched with collections of antique glassware.
The building is full of typical elements stemming from the Catalans, like the shield of four bars or the sculpture of Sant Jordi and the dragon that connects the two main doors. As well, following the characteristic stroke of the works of Puig, we can also find traditional elements of other nations, like the green wooden lattices of the windows, that permits to see on to the street without being seen and that remembers the Moor houses.
The Amatller House consists, together with Casa Batlló of Antoni Gaudí and the Casa Lleó Morera, of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, situated side by side, an unbeatable architectural joint in the centre of the city.