Casa Milá

Originally posted November 18, 2008 on Viaje de una VidaAs you might have noticed, when one visits Barcelona, they are of course obligated to visit and admire the many (and I say many) facades, buildings, and designs of Antoni Gaudí. It may appear that I've seen every Gaudí building, and that´s not quite true… So this week I visited some new places I've been waiting to see.Casa Milá or otherwise known as La Pedrera (Catalan for stone quarry) was designed by Antoni Gaudí in the early 1900s. The apartment building was built for a newlywed couple of Indianos - Catalonians who returned from the new Americas with a lot of wealth.The couple wanted a house much like Casa Batlló that Gaudí had designed earlier. However, this time however he removed himself from the same use of color and decoration as seen in the Batlló for more emphasis on shapes and curves and religious symbolism which is depicted in Milá.The interior feels luxurious, calm, and simple. The creamy whites don't seem bland or blank, but rather only emphasize his use of light and curves in the lines of his buildings.While the interior is impressive, its the roof that gets all the attention, and that´s to be expected. We had the luck of visiting the roof right at sunset and saw how the light reflected on the glass mosaic curving smoke-like chimneys and towers atop Casa Milá.The roof was my favorite and almost rivaled the roof at Casa Batlló. I thought the white rooftop might have seem bland or plain, but in the lighting it was pretty magical and impressive. I noticed how Gaudí used different shades of tile to reflect different hues and shades of light and color.