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La Pedrera (meaning 'The Quarry') also known as
Casa Milà
is located near the centre of Barcelona and was designed by the Catalan architect
Antoni Gaudí.
The building was commissioned by a married couple (Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà)
and was Gaudí's last civil project which was built between 1906 and 1910.
The facade of the building is a sea of glass, metal and concrete undulating in and out
towards the street with wrought-iron
balconies
sprouting like weeds from the gaps,
on a site that looks like it was grown organically from the foundation upwards. Restored to its
former glory in 1996 after years of decay, the site has a remarkably
distinct construction style that even today is rarely matched or duplicated by anyone else.
The attic space flows around the top of the building with a
rib
cage of inverted
catenary
arch shapes and small spot light
windows
bursting through the skin like walls. The icing
on the cake is a roller coaster roof space stepping up and down past
surreal sculptures and
chimneys resembling medieval knights.
After the panoramic views of the city there is a quick conveyor belt ride through one of the
top floor apartments showing a glimpse of the past with enough
bric-a-brac to fill to
a sunday morning car boot sale.
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