Casa Mila is famous in its local space for having the name ‘La Pedrera’, which means ‘The Stone Quarry’.It is also known as the ‘quarry house’ at times. Casa Milà, although it appears to be a big mansion or palace, was not built for that very purpose and was a normal private residence for the couple, Pere Milà and Roser Segimón.The wife of Pere Mila was a widow of a rich South American who had the business in Guatemala of a coffee plantation. In the early years of the ’20s, a large piece of land was bought in Barcelona, almost 19,751 sq ft (1,835 sq m). The already existing building or former residence was demolished so the new apartment building could be built. The famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi, was hired by the couple to build this famous building in Barcelona, Spain. Antoni Gaudi’s style of building was very much different from the other architects. Antoni Gaudi was a very unique person on his own. Antoni Gaudi designed this beautiful building with different floors, each having its own unusual construction with underground parking, beautiful interior walls with private collections, and different vivid decorative shapes with a spectacular roof. Gaudi’s masterpieces can entirely be seen in curves and straight lines from the ground floor, till the upper edge or roof of the building are avoided in the construction. It is believed that Antoni Gaudi wanted to build La Pedrera with the idea of promoting the religious symbol of the Virgin Mary, but was opposed by many other local people of Barcelona. He even intended to build religious statues. Another famous building by Antoni Gaudi, apart from La Pedrera, is Casa Batllo. The residence is believed to be Sagrada Familia. The building code was often violated by the architect.La Pedrera was the last building by Antoni Gaudi. Pere Mila bought the land on June 9, 1905, and by February 2, 1906, the Gaudi-designed quarry house with extraordinary shapes was presented to the Barcelona city council. The former residence’s entire facade, along with the rest of the art nouveau style, was approved by the council. Casa Mila was built until 1912, when Gaudi claimed that the entire facade, along with the interior, was almost ready to be lived in by the owners. The entire building is believed to be built with three types of stone. The Casa Mila building’s condition deteriorated by the end of 1970, and the natural stone and white ceramic tiles on the upper floors were falling down the street. The cost of maintenance was prohibitively expensive, so UNESCO designated Casa Mila as a World Heritage Site in 1984. It is also listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. All the falling white ceramic tiles and natural stone varieties used in the Casa Mila were repaired by them. In 2013, ‘Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera’, a small non-profit organization, made its headquarters in the Casa Mila. The organization claims a better and brighter future. Society is also responsible for guiding the visitors toward the exhibition hall, the art museum showing the mural paintings, and many other features of Casa Mila. The entire Casa Mila does not have straight walls or straight lines. There has also been criticism received from Joaquim Garcia over the iron bars of the balconies.Casa Mila HistoryCasa Mila was first owned by Pere Mila and his wife. The building was built by Antoni Gaud.Before the construction of Casa Mila, there was a former residence that was demolished. The roof work of the building was majorly influenced by the Park Guell. The building has been unique in its style, and local people, along with the Mila family, were amazed by the building’s structure. Therefore, the building was named ‘La Pedrera’ which means ’the quarry’.Casa Batllo was another well-known structure that was believed to be owned by the Bernat family. The building is located on the noble Passeig de Gràcia and was built by Antoni Gaudi.Casa Milà almost covers up the upper edge or corner of the street, Passeig de Gràcia. Casa Milà is a nine-story building with a courtyard. Casa Milà even has an exhibition hall and an art museum for visitors. The interior walls of Casa Mila are similar to those of modern office buildings, and the two halls in the center of the building are known to be polychromatic, which showcase the oil paintings. There was not a single straight wall in the building to even keep a piano.When the building was completed in 1910, it amazed many of the people as the architect’s style was very unique. Later, UNESCO World Heritage announced Casa Milà would be a museum. Casa Batllo and Casa Milà have many common features. The rooftop of the building is no doubt very different, and the way chimneys are constructed amazes the visitors.The chimneys constructed on the rooftop resemble medieval knights guarding the structure. The structure of the chimneys was to commemorate the Catalan chivalry who battled in the Mediterranean Sea during Catalonia’s golden age. The Casa Milà style was heavily ornamental and had adopted the Art Nouveau style. Some of the furniture in Casa Mila or La Pedrera can be seen to have been influenced by Catalan modernism.Location Of Casa MilaCasa Milà, locally called La Pedrera, is a recognized World Heritage Site built by Antoni Gaudí in the early years of the 20th century. It is located on the noble Passeig de Gràcia corner in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Casa Milà, commonly known by another name, the quarry house or the stone quarry, is a perfect example of a modernista building structure. Casa Milà was built in the central part of Barcelona as the private residence of the famous and wealthiest person, Pere Mila. It almost took six years to complete La Pedrera. Casa Mila is now owned by UNESCO World Heritage and attracts a lot of people around the world. If you visit Casa Mila, then it would take around one and a half hours for the indoors, along with the roof tour.If you ever plan a trip to Barcelona, then visiting this Catalan modernism-influenced architectural style would add more fun to your visit to Spain. The building has two halls that are polychromatic and amaze the visitors. The chimneys built on the roof are very similar to soldiers guarding the building. The formal language of Gaudi and the normal life of the bourgeoisie would clearly be evident in the apartment-style living in Casa Milà.Casa Mila Architecture StyleCasa Mila was built and designed by Antoni Gaudí, who was born on June 25, 1852, in Catalan, Spain.Casa Mila was designed in the art nouveau architectural style. It’s an architectural design trend that emphasizes curvature rather than straight lines, along with vibrant, colorful patterns. Natural stone covers the entire facade, with white ceramic tiles along the structure’s upper edge. The early years of Antoni Gaudí were not that good as he struggled hard with the disease rheumatism.Due to this illness, he spent most of his time taking a rest at his summer home in Riudoms. He lived there for a long period of time. He later started to observe nature up close and took everything as a learning opportunity. His ability to observe and consider every minute detail of nature made him a great and well-known architect.He was more of a practical personality, which could easily be reflected in his craftsman work. He tried to convert his imagination into reality with innovative plans and by using different technological skills. He always tried to do something different from other architects. Casa Mila is one such example of Gaudi’s work. Not even a single wall of the building is straight, and mostly curves are seen throughout the building structures.He focused on being more modern in his architectural style when building the residential building for the Mila family. New styles were adopted in construction. His other famous works include Casa Vicens, Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and many others. Gaudi’s work was sometimes criticized by the people. At the age of 74, Gaudí’s life came to an end, leaving behind his masterpiece work to be appreciated by people around the world.Owners And Height Of Casa MilaCasa Milà was originally owned by the Mila family and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Even though it resembled a large palace or castle, it was actually created for the family of Pere Milà and Roser Segimón as a residential building. Pere Mila’s wife was the widow of a wealthy South American who owned a coffee estate in Guatemala. The huge plot of land of around 19,751 sq ft (1,835 sq m) was bought by the rich couple. In the early years of 1900, Pere Milà was one of the wealthiest people in Barcelona.The old former residence was dismantled to make way for the modern housing complex. The couple commissioned Antoni Gaudi, a well-known architect in Catalonia, to design this special and iconic structure in Barcelona, Spain. People visit Casa Mila to learn about Antoni Gaudi and to understand where he got his inspiration from. The construction of the building started in 1906 and was completed in 1910. However, the official grant of the Barcelona council was still awaited, which was given on October 31, 1912.The main floor authorization was given in 1911 by the council. All of the work by Gaudi was approved, and the building was ready to be lived in. Roser Segimón is believed to have lived on the main floor of the building, and she died in 1964. In 1966, the main floor was taken over by an insurance company. During the time that the Casa Mila housed an academy, an office for Cementos Molins and Inoxcrom, it also served as a bingo hall. It takes about an hour or a little over an hour to check out Casa Mila.Later, the condition of the building was deteriorating, and the cost of the repair was very expensive due to the type of work done in the building. In 1971, the tiles started to loosen up and the front facade started to fall on the street. Josep Anton Comas came up with the idea of preserving the paintings in the courtyard. Finally, in 1984, the building was overtaken by UNESCO World Heritage for preserving the unique architectural style of Gaudi.
Casa Mila is famous in its local space for having the name ‘La Pedrera’, which means ‘The Stone Quarry’.
