One of the great pleasures of visiting Barcelona is the opportunity to see and study its Art Nouveau architecture, especially those buildings by Antoni Gaudi.
Casa Milà is located in the Eixample neighborhood and was the last building Gaudí designed before devoting the remainder of his life to the construction of La Sagrada Familia. It was built as a private residence for the Pere Milà family between 1906-1910, and is considered one of the best examples of the Modernisme style.
Casa Milà is often called "La Pedrera", which translates to "the quarry house". The large creamy limestone slabs of the facade were the first to be installed and were then worked by stonemasons to form these irregular shapes and wavy coutours, reminiscent of a massive boulder. The stone facade is self-supporting, free of load-bearing walls.
The rock is natural and unpainted and has no ornamentation besides the decorative iron balconies, which provided last week's One Clue Mystery photo. The photo was recognized by Professor Abe, George G and PortMoresby -- congratulations to all!
My wife and I would have loved to tour the interior of the building, but sadly we ran out of time. It's said to be an open airy space. Some of the following photos prove details of what that's like.
(Staircase in La Pedera, courtesy Shkermaker and Wikimedia)
The roof is said to provide terrific views of Barcelona, and is noted for its terraces and interesting ventilation shafts and chimneys, some in the shape of soldiers and decorative crosses.
(Casa Mila Rooftop Courtesy Shkermaker and Wikimedia)
Casa Milà was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. Truly nothing like it anywhere else.
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