Life & Works of Antoni Gaudí

Casa Milà
city residence, 1906-1910

Besides the Sagrada Familia, Casa Milà (or »La Pedrera« as it is often called) is probably Gaudí's second most popular building in Barcelona.

Today, the city residence is home to the Caixa Catalunya Foundation which cares about Gaudi's heritage and turned the building into a large interpretive centre named "Espai Gaudi", with arts gallery and a Museum on the to floor just under the roof. To some people it may seem a bit like Disneyland, but the exposition is excellent and gives you a good impression about Gaudi's ideas.

Casá Mila covers an area of more than 100 square meters and includes two large circular patios, so that almost every part of the house get its share of sunlight.

As a residential building, Casa Milà is completely different from the nearby Casa Battló which was built almost at the same time. It is constructed entirely in natural stones, and lacking all the colors and ornamentic design, Casa Milà looks much more serious than its smaller counterpart. As in may of his later buildings, it is more and more nature that influenced hime and showed solutions for difficult construction problems. However, even here Gaudi came in conflict with the authorities: He again placed the pillars out on the walkway and exceeded the building height by adding another storey on the top. But, as in all the cases, he managed to win at the end.

Another interesting fact is that the floor plans aren't similar. This is only possible because Gaudí built without supporting walls, the complete structure is carried by pillars and arches. All the rooms look different, even their height changes from one to the other.

But maybe one of the most interesting places of the whole complex is the rooftop: Here you can find a large ensenble of surrealistic chimneys, all looking different and like sculptures standing there alone or in small groups, dominating the rooftop. It sure must be a great place for a summer evening, above all the other buildings in the "Eixample".