La Pedrera
One of Gaudí’s most iconic buildings—and still inhabited!
Casa Milà, more popularly known as La Pedrera (the Quarry) due to its open-stone façade, was the last civil work by architect Antoni Gaudí before dedicating himself exclusively to the Sagrada Família. This is a must-see visit.
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An apartment block designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site
In 1906, entrepreneur Pere Milà i Camps commissioned the building from Antoni Gaudí, giving him full freedom in its design. The result of Gaudí’s imagination and pragmatism is a work of striking aesthetics and architectural brilliance. Built between 1906 and 1910, the building was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
What most captures visitors’ attention is undoubtedly the undulating stone façade that evokes the sea in motion, where waves play with wrought iron seaweed that actually forms the balconies—mostly designed by Josep Maria Jujol. The bold organic forms of the façade defied all conventional design rules, leading critics to mockingly nickname the building La Pedrera, the name that has remained ever since.
Its internal structure features columns and floors free of load-bearing walls, allowing internal partitions to be removed without impacting the building's stability. The stone façade is self-supporting. Gaudí also included an underground garage—an innovative feature at the time.
Exploring La Pedrera’s interior
Inside La Pedrera, you first enter the main floor, once the residence of the Milà family, now used as an exhibition space. Next, you can visit a recreated early 20th-century apartment that immerses you in the lifestyle of a bourgeois family, complete with period furnishings, domestic equipment, and Gaudí-designed ornamentation.
Don’t miss the attic, covering 800 square meters. Originally housing laundry facilities and functioning as a thermal insulator, it’s a vaulted space formed by 270 catenary arches of varying heights that support the rooftop. This Catalan vaulting technique, widely used at the time, was even brought to the U.S. by Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino and applied to buildings like Grand Central Station in New York.
The rooftop, one of the building’s most spectacular features, is also open to visitors. It’s an extraordinary sculptural landscape unlike anything from Gaudí’s era. Following the façade’s rhythm, you’ll find elements like stairwells, ventilation towers, and chimneys—dynamic, symbolic shapes open to interpretation yet serving functional purposes. Many are clad in trencadís of ceramic, stone, marble, and glass.
How to get to La Pedrera
La Pedrera is located at the corner of Passeig de Gràcia and Carrer Provença. The Passeig de Gràcia – La Pedrera stop on the Red and Blue routes of the Barcelona Tourist Bus drops you off right in front.
For the curious
- It’s actually not one building but two independent six-story blocks, joined only at the ground level and organized around two interior courtyards—one circular, one oval.
- In 1953, architect Francisco Barba Corsini remodeled the top floor into thirteen modern-style rental apartments, diverging from Gaudí’s design. When acquired by Caixa Catalunya in 1996, the building was restored to its original appearance and now houses the Gaudí Space, an exhibition on the architect’s life and work.
- La Pedrera offers various types of visits: daytime, nighttime, Gaudí-focused… and in summer, it hosts jazz and other concerts on the rooftop. Check out its event schedule!
