Built between 1906 and 1910, Casa Milá, or “La Pedrera” was Gaudi’s last significant work before starting with the construction of La Sagrada Familia. Up close,
the complex appears more like a real sculpture than an actual building with its natural stone and harmonious curved effects. It is the unusual nature of the building’s massive stone facades that led this architectural structure to be nicknamed La Padrera, or “stone quarry”. Indeed, the façade features an impressive wave-like stone with huge windows and forged iron balconies, representative of leaves or foliage. This is a prime example of Gaudi’s ability to divulge in the nature of the material, by portraying iron as soft regardless of its overt solidity.
On the terrace, Gaudi shows himself to be a practical, yet creative artist. For instance, the chimneys placed on the roof not only heat the building, but are comprised with sculptures reminiscent of warriors. Some of them are decorated with irregular mosaics known as “trenadís” due to the use of small pieces of broken glass. Together, all these elements create a forest of figures that evoke a sense of wonder due to its variety and modernist forms.
Due to the owners´ refusal to place a sculpture of the virgin surrounded by angels, Gaudí did not finish this project. Although, the building does not display as much religious symbolism as Gaudi would have liked, it is evident that La Padrera remains very much how he envisioned it to be. That is above all, a prime reflection of nature.
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