Casa de los Lagartos, Art Nouveau apartment building in Justicia, Madrid, Spain
Casa de los Lagartos is a five-story residential building on Calle Mejía Lequerica with decorative salamander motifs on its exterior walls. The structure combines numerous windows with art studios on upper levels, while the ground floor houses commercial spaces.
The building was completed in 1912 under architect Benito González del Valle's design. It introduced metal frame construction methods that allowed more windows to be placed across the entire exterior.
The building blends Vienna Secession style with Madrid's early 1900s architecture. Visitors notice geometric patterns and symmetric window arrangements on the facades that reflect European modernism of that era.
The building can be viewed from the street and shows its facade details clearly from outside. The salamander decorations and window arrangements are best seen in daylight from different angles along the street.
The building breaks with Madrid's architectural tradition by having no central courtyard. Instead it relies on external windows for ventilation and natural light, reflecting a modern practical design approach of that era.
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