Document EMYA-23

European Museum of the Year Award 2023

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Index CREDITS WELCOME 1.

ATTRACTING AND ENGAGING VISITORS

2.

ATMOSPHERE, PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

3.

HANDS ON APROACH TO EDUCATION AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

4. DEMOCRACY, DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, TOLERANCE, INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND SUSTAINABILITY 5.

MUSEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

CONCLUSIONS

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Credits

ANA ACOSTA

MARIA BERNAT

GARY GAUTIER

ALFREDO RUIZ

ENCARNA SEGURA

AMILCAR VARGAS

Visitor Curator

Ethics Curator

Organisation Curator

Team Curator

Brand Curator

World Heritage Curator

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Welcome The purpose of Casa Batlló is to make people happy through art and engage them with the museum by creating unforgettable, significant, participatory, and inspirational experiences. Our vision is to be exponentially innovative, driven by the values of freedom, democracy, authenticity, participation, passion, and creativity.

During the past years, we’ve researched and worked on how to increase people’s appreciation of heritage. We discovered that Casa Batlló doesn’t change, but people do. So we placed them at the center, resulting in an original and interactive proposal that merges the restoration of cultural heritage and new technologies.

Using local artisans’ crafts, cutting-edge digital visuals, and emotional storytelling, we’ve created a visit you can’t forget.

We have also evolved as a team from an organizational perspective. We have focused on reimagining how we can positively impact society by redefining the role of democracy, ethics, and dialog at Casa Batlló.

We are determined to be the change we want to see in the world.

GARY GAUTIER

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1. Attracting and Engaging Visitors

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1.1 Creating Valuable Content Casa Batlló develops broad and diverse content focusing on raising awareness of Gaudí’s legacy, World Heritage, and Culture. We aim to inspire people through art with a highly committed and sustainable management model.

CB IMMERSIVE VISIT

LIVING ARCHITECTURE

SANT JORDI 2020

1.2 Designing Innovative Experiences Casa Batlló’s cultural experience goes beyond the classical visit of a museum or monument, responding to different needs and audiences, and maintaining the innovative spirit embedded in the building, built by Gaudí over a century ago.

MOON NIGHTS

SKYWALK

MAGIC NIGHTS

1.3 Accompanying the Visitor We have developed a unique Visitor Experience Cycle that cares for visitors at every step of their tour: before, during, and after the visit, attending to them through different channels, both in person and online.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE JOURNEY

1.4 Listening and Acting Our team analyzes daily feedback from visitors through satisfaction surveys and direct observation of our staff. A specialized group meets daily to implement agile improvements in real time.

ACCESSIBILITY WORKSHOP

1.5 Generating conversations We participate in international debates regarding the role of the museums in society establishing dialogues with the museum and heritage sector worldwide. We develop conversations with our followers and visitors through digital channels.

FACEBOOK CASABATLLO

INSTAGRAM @CASABATLLO

SOCIAL MEDIA IN ASIA

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

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2. Atmosphere, Presentation and Interpretation

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2.1 A Multi-Sensory Experience The museum experience stimulates all possible senses through surrounding sound, volumetric projections, olfactory proposals, and visual harmony of the house’s rooms and exhibitions. The aggregate approach amplifies the spirit of the site, creating an unforgettable and inspiring visit.

CASA BATLLÓ NEW VISIT

BEST IN HERITAGE INTERVIEW

2.2 Immersive and Invisible Technologies Via our humanist curatorship, we have created an emotional visitor-centered experience that engages analogical and digital-born audiences.

Invisible technologies give life to different ephemeral installations the visitor discovers in the museum.

MUSEUM NEXT

MAKING OFF MAGIC FRAMES

MAGIC FRAMES

2.3 Guest Artists Following Gaudí’s spirit of striving for excellence in a wide range of creative fields and constructing a comprehensive and multivocal narrative, we invited outstanding contemporary artists from diverse backgrounds to intervene in the house and the visit, reinterpreting Gaudí’s legacy from different disciplines.

DANI HOWARD

REFIK ANADOL

KENGO KUMA

2.4 Heritage Transparency We conceive heritage as a social process because people are fundamental to its preservation. Placing the visitor at the center of the cultural experience helps Gaudí’s legacy convene into the conversation and make his innovative nature eternal.

AWARENESS NEW VISIT

2.5 Global recognition After Casa Batlló’s extensive reform in 2021, we have received diverse praise and recognition, and been awarded by multiple entities, most notably the Museum+Heritage Awards for Best International Exhibition 2022.

TESTIMONY OF E. OTTONE

MUSEUM+ HERITAGE AWARDS

PRESS CLIPPING

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3. Hands on Aproach to Education and Social Responsibility

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3.1 Inspiring the Little Ones Casa Batlló’s youngest visitors receive a Virtual Reality Tablet that guides them through their visit and gamifies the architect’s creative universe.

Furthermore, we provide periodicals, workshops, and drawing contests that encourage their creativity.

Also, admission is free for children up to 12 years old.

HANDCRAFTS FOR CHILDREN

CONFINEMENT

VISIT WITH CHILDREN

3.2 Attending Schools and Educators From pre-school to university, Casa Batlló personally attends educators offering value-added content to their visits. We expand our educational project with new cross-cutting, inclusive, and multidisciplinary content where values such as sustainability and tolerance stand out.

UIC STUDENTS

ÉCOLE DU LOUVRE

3.3 Training New Professionals Casa Batlló Apprenticeship and UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers Programs are platforms that support young professionals in heritage-related fields that are looking to enhance their competencies, abilities, and knowledge in a high-performance and multidisciplinary environment.

UIC APPRENTICES

UNESCO VOLUNTEERS

3.4 Social Responsibility Casa Batlló has supported different social causes on local and international levels for over 15 years.

Connected to social needs, we have worked alongside foundations and institutions committed to public health, art therapy, and supporting the end of homelessness and societal integration of the visually impaired.

BANG DE SANG

ALDEAS INFANTILES

SOFAR UNICEF CONCERT

FUNDACIÓ ARRELS

3.5 Neurodivergent Team Casa Batlló reopened with a neurodivergent team that attends visitors from the beginning to the end of their cultural visit. Beyond giving support to diversity and inclusivity, we’ve become a platform that spotlights the issue and exemplifies impactful change.

SPECIALISTERNE

NEWS COPE NETWORK

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4. Democracy, Diversity, Equality, Tolerance, Intercultural Dialogue and Sustainability

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4.1 Democratic Organisation We use the TEAL organisation model, which adopts a human-centered approach based on the proposals of Frédéric Laloux. This involves employees in decisionmaking and encourages their creative development, implementing personal growth and wellbeing initiatives.

TEAL MODEL

OXFAM TEAMBUILDING

4.2 Human Rights We raise awareness on Human Rights, e.g., LGBTQI+, Autism, and Gender Equality, among others, with campaigns and special façade illuminations. We are currently closing collaboration with the Red Cross to grant access to refugees’ families from the war in Ukraine.

PRIDE

GENDER EQUALITY

HANDBOOK LGTBQ TRAVEL

4.3 Casa Batlló in 15 Languages Casa Batlló is a World Heritage Site open to all.

Our audioguide holds a content proposal translated for most of the world. Fifteen languages help us disseminate World Heritage values bringing Gaudí’s legacy to millions of people in their mother tongue.

KOREAN WEB

CHINESE WEB

GERMAN WEB

4.4 Cultural Events and Travelling Exhibitions To promote cultural exchange, we organize multiple musical and artistic events, international celebrations such as Chinese and Korean New Years’, and traveling exhibitions worldwide. We also offer Casa Batlló space for artists to create or exhibit their works.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

BCN SPRING FESTIVAL

LA CASA DE CARLOTA

INJECT LOVE

INTERCULTURAL EXHIBITIONS

4.5 Committed to the Sustainable Development Goals We participate in social, environmental, and economic initiatives framed within the roadmap of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs promoted by the UN, leading us to achieve the Biosphere certificate from 2019 until the present.

SDG IMPLEMENTATION

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AWARDS

BIOSPHERE CERTIFIED

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5. Museological, Political, Social and Economic Challenges

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5.1 Bringing Heritage Closer We work to disseminate the universal value of World Heritage to all our visitors rigorously and attractively.

We restored the house leaving it open to the public thanks to innovative displays to show the work and authenticity.

TUNNEL MAKING OFF

5.2 Connection with the Public Casa Batlló is a piece of fine public art pertaining to the city of Barcelona. Not only do locals identify with the site, but the global recognition of Casa Batlló’s façade is associated to the city of Barcelona. We care to make locals proud, and share the city’s values globally.

CONFERENCE MINISTER OF CULTURE

LIVING ARCHITECTURE DOCUMENTARY

ADA COLAU, BCN MAYOR

5.3 Fostering Local Crafts and Traditions

Casa Batlló spotlights local crafts and traditions. We support local artisans through restoration efforts and selling their products in our Store. Every Saint George Day, the façade is covered in roses, transforming locals’ sense of belonging to the house and preserving longstanding city traditions.

ARTISANS

SANT JORDI 2022

CHRISTMAS TREE

5.4 Self Sufficient As a private entity, we have never received public funding or donations. Our commitment is to preserve this world heritage site and continue creating social initiatives that engage with citizens and contribute to a better society.

5.5 Committed to Humanity We’ve taken the challenge of contributing to the improvement of humanity by designing cultural experiences in a well-preserved museum, a world heritage site. Art, being the most sublime manifestation of societies, is the form in which we contribute to people’s well-being. We commit to continue making people happy through art.

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Conclusions Casa Batlló has worked hard to improve the quality of the museum’s experience with an outstanding combination of analog and digital components. The proposal reaches new audiences amazed by the coexistence of an extraordinarily restored house and fresh contemporary and digital narratives.

Casa Batlló’s new cultural proposal is unique, innovative, thoughtful, and purposeful. The project required over 120 specialists in the restoration and new technologies that combined their talent and expertise to upgrade the conservation of the house and prepare it to continue engaging visitors with emotional and humanistic storytelling.

The museum has pivoted its center. Where we used to spotlight the ‘objects dart,’ today we’ve placed people—reaffirming our purpose to make people happy through art. The same approach that we have integrated into our governance, with the TEAL management model implementation.

Through our hands-on approach to social responsibility, embedding diversity, inclusion, democracy, equality, and tolerance as our driver, Casa Batlló wishes to become a central agent in cultural and institutional change.

This project is a unique global example of the successful implementation of sustainable policy, social responsibility, and harmony with the heritage, the public, and its employees.

Moving forward, Casa Batlló is committed to facing its challenges through a human-centered approach that is creative, generative, and future-facing; that activates, organizes, and innovates to enrich culture and enliven our shared world.

CASA BATLLÓ TEAM

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