The iconic La Pedrera – Casa Mila in Barcelona, Spain, is a UNESCO-listed masterpiece designed by Antoni Gaudi and a highlight of the city’s incredible Modernista architecture. Located on the Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona’s affluent Eixample district, the building showcases Gaudi’s innovative architectural style and unique visual aesthetic.

Completed in 1912, La Pedrera – Casa Mila comprises two apartment blocks built around two large, interconnected courtyards. Originally named Casa Mila after the family who commissioned the building, it became known locally as La Pedrera (“the Stone Quarry”), a criticism referring to the unusual facade made of large blocks of Catalan limestone.

Conceived as a complete work of art, Gaudi oversaw every element of the complex, including doorknobs, sculptural plasterwork on the apartment ceilings and custom furniture. The result is a combination of the beauty of form with the utility of function, a fusion of modern architecture with the fine and decorative arts.

Notable elements of La Pedrera include the undulating stone facade, balconies with elaborate wrought iron and a curvilinear roof topped with fantastical chimneys and ventilation towers that resemble abstract sculptures.

Accessed by the large glass-and-iron doors, the entrance halls of the two apartment blocks and the Flower and Butterfly Courtyards continue the undulating shapes of the building and allow for light and ventilation through the complex.

Vibrant murals by Alex Clapes, a Catalan Modernist painter, cover the walls, ceilings and staircases and include floral motifs and mythological scenes, a hallmark of Catalan Modernism.

Beyond the visual novelties, the complex is renowned for its key architectural innovations, including a curtain wall exterior (a non-load bearing wall) and a structural system of pillars, which allowed for large windows that facilitated light and ventilation.

Gaudi’s modern, open-plan apartments all featured flexible spaces that individual owners could adjust to their preferences. The irregular layouts of the apartments also allowed each one to have a room on the main facade.

Other structural innovations included an underground garage for coaches and automobiles and hundreds of brick catenary arches in the attic (originally the laundry room for the building) that support the roof without the need for buttresses.

Today, the attic is an exhibition space devoted to Gaudi’s life and work.

The surreal roof terrace with stairwells, chimneys, and ventilation towers is an artistic highlight of the complex.

Several of the towers and stairwells are decorated with trencadis (“chopped”), a Catalan Modernist technique using broken pieces of ceramics to create an ornamental mosaic surface.

The roof terrace offers panoramic views over Barcelona, with the spires of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia visible in the distance.

Many of the apartments in La Pedrera are still private residences, but we can arrange a private tour of the highlights of the building, including the roof, the Butterfly Courtyard, and an apartment restored with period furniture that evokes life in the building at the turn of the century. Upon request, we can also arrange an exclusive tour outside opening hours.

We also recommend visiting the gift shop to browse Gaudi-related mementoes to bring home.

Contact Artisans of Leisure to begin planning a private Spain tour featuring the architectural highlights of Barcelona, including La Pedrera – Casa Mila, La Sagrada Familia and other iconic works by leading architects of Catalan Modernism.