La Pedrera (Casa Mila)

On Monday, I did the full-Gaudi tour. The first stop was at the La Padrera, also known as Casa Mila. As with Park Guell, this building was built for another financial supporter, Pere Mila. The building itself has a stone facade and is really interesting to look at once again because there are very few straight lines to be found. Here's the exterior side view (the front is very similar):


Once inside the building, you enter an internal courtyard that has an open roof (light well). All the surfaces are either painted or have a coating that make them almost iridescent.


You then take an elevator to one of the upper floors to walk around an apartment. The apartment is fully restored to look like it would have when the building was built in 1912.

For me, the building has two real highlights. The first is the attic area, which is made up of brick arches that cover the entire top floor. Apparently, he used this type of structure as a lighter-weight option to hold up the roof and roof patios. It almost has a wine-cellar/church feel to the space. Inside the attic there are various displays of different Gaudi works as well as construction details for the building.


The other super cool thing about this building is the roof patio. As with other Gaudi projects, the chimneys are very stylish and decorated and there are other artistic touches. This photo shows some of the Darth-Vader-Mask-style chimneys and the top of the light wells:


Here's a shot from the roof patio towards the Sagrada Familia with some random guy in it:


These photos, once again, don't do the place justice. Very nice architecture and a great place to tour if you're in Barcelona and want to see a good example of a Modernist building.