Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera, is such a fascinating work of architect Antoni Gaudi. It is in Barcelona, Spain and was completed in 1912. It was the last civil work done by Gaudi. Gaudi actually almost didn’t finish it because he wanted to incorporate religious statues and the owners didn’t want that. However, he decided to finish. In its time, this building was seen as controversial because it had a stone façade and twisting balconies. The stone façade is a self-supporting structure so they didn’t have to worry about supporting walls on each floor.

The basement is a garage and the building was originally supposed to be an apartment building. The inside of the building is a big courtyard with open space. Gaudi wanted the residents of the flats to be close and communicate with each other. In 1984 it was declared a World Heritage Site and is a place that tourists can go see now. I went to it last summer but didn’t get to see the inside because it was too late in the day for touring. There is a little gift shop on the first floor with lots of neat stuff.