In front of you stands Casa Milà, though nobody calls it that: to everyone it's La Pedrera, «the quarry». The nickname began as a jibe. To Barcelona people in the early 20th century, that mass of rippling stone looked like an open-cast quarry.

1The Milàs' commission

It was commissioned by Pere Milà and his wife, Roser Segimon, and Gaudí built it between 1906 and 1912. It was his last major secular work before he devoted himself almost entirely to the Sagrada Família. Behind the façade lie ideas well ahead of their time: the stone doesn't hold the building up, pillars and beams do, so the interior walls could be placed at will. He even planned a garage for carriages in the basement.

The wrought-iron balconies, which look like seaweed or climbing plants, are largely credited to his collaborator Josep Maria Jujol.

2The Virgin that never arrived

Gaudí wanted to crown the façade with a large statue of the Virgin Mary. You can still read, up high, the opening of the Hail Mary: «Ave gratia M plena». The statue was never put up. The usual explanation is that after the burning of churches and convents during the Tragic Week of 1909, Pere Milà feared the image would make his house a target.

A quarry turned icon: the mocking nickname became its best-loved name.

UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1984.

3What to look for

  • The inscription «Ave gratia M plena» along the cornice.
  • The iron balconies, no two alike.
  • The rooftop chimneys, peeping out like warriors.

Documented

Gaudí built Casa Milà between 1906 and 1912 for Pere Milà and Roser Segimon; the balconies are largely the work of Josep Maria Jujol, and it has been World Heritage since 1984.

Oral tradition

That the Virgin was never placed out of fear after the Tragic Week is the usual explanation, but it rests more on testimony than on documents.

Sources and credits

Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, official website; UNESCO, «Works of Antoni Gaudí»; Joan Bassegoda i Nonell, «El gran Gaudí» (1989).

Photos:

  • La Pedrera, with its undulating stone façade and wrought-iron balconies: Thomas Ledl, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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