| Casa
Milà, better known as La Pedrera (Catalan for 'The Quarry'), is
a building designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built
in the years 1905 to 1907. It is located at 92, Passeig de Gràcia
('passeig' is Catalan for promenade or avenue) in the Eixample district
of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was built for Roger Segimon de Milà.
It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The building does not have
any straight lines. Most people consider it magnificent and overwhelming
-- some say it is like waves of lava or a sand-dune. This building seems
to break our understanding of conventional architecture. The most astonishing
part is the roof with an almost lunar appearance and dreamlike landscape.
The building can be considered more of a sculpture than a regular building.
Critics remark on its detachment from usefulness, but others consider it
to be art. The Barcelonese of the time considered it ugly, hence the "quarry"
nickname, but today it is a landmark of Barcelona. Apart from Casa Milà,
the lampost in the foreground ain't such a bad piece of work either! |
|
Passeig
de Gracia