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Casa Milà, better known as “La Pedrera”, is one of the masterpieces that Gaudì left in Barcelona. Built between 1906 and 1910 for the wealthy businessman Pere Milà i Camps and his wife Roser Segimon i Artells, it has been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1984.

Milà wanted to “invest” on the expansion of the Eixample district with a house in which to live and in part rent to other bourgeois eager to live on Passeig de Gracia.

The nickname of “La Pedrera”, which in Spanish means “quarry”, derives from the appearance of the façade that recalls that of a quarry in full processing.

source: flickr.com

La Pedrera was the last of the 4 civil buildings built by Gaudi on the Passeig de Gracia before plunging without stopping in the construction of the Sagrada Familia. The merger of two pre-existing buildings, the presence of the garage for 8 cars, lifts, and hot water made it an extraordinary innovation.

Today Casa Milà is home to the Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation and is an important cultural center that organizes exhibitions. In 2014 the façade was cleaned and refurbished, returning to its former glory.

source: flickr.com

Looking at the façade, the nickname “Pedrera” (quarry) seems fully justified. Gaudì decided to build the rough stone facade, a large rock wall shaped by the elements of nature.

In fact, there is not a single straight line but everything is undulating, just like the coasts of the mountains smoothed by the wind or the waves of the sea. Under the rough stone, however, there is the reinforced concrete that Gaudì decided to use to build the structure, then covering it with living stone and other aesthetically pleasing materials.

source: flickr.com

This allowed him to work freely with the decorative elements without worrying about the pillars that should have held them: this amazed the contemporaries of Gaudì. The other element that stands out on the facade is the wrought iron used for the balconies and the supports of the windows.

USEFUL INFO

Opening hours: Mon-Sun (08.00 AM – 08.30 PM) and (09.00 PM – 11.00 PM)

Admission: from €22 online tickets

Web site

How to reach: Metro Diagonal, Bus 7,16,17, 22, 24, V17

Address: Passeig de Gràcia, 92, 08008 Barcelona, Spagna

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