Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Mila, also known as “La Pedrera”, was commissioned by Pere Milà i Camps and his wife, Roser Segimon. Built between 1906 and 1912, it represents a break in both formal and structural terms from other houses in the city’s Eixample district. The key to its technical prowess lies in the fact that the building is supported on a network of columns creating an open floor space and its self-supporting stone façade, which is non-load-bearing for the rest of the building, among its other innovations. Its uniqueness and artistic heritage value were widely acknowledged when it was inscribed on the City of Barcelona Artistic Heritage List in 1962, declared a Historical and Artistic Monument of National Interest by the Spanish government in 1969 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1984 for its exceptional universal value.

For over twenty years, it has been open to the public as a cultural centre and is currently the headquarters of the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera. Its main floor, which was previously the residence of the Milàs, now comprises a surface area of 1,300m2 that hosts temporary exhibitions. Plaster ceilings and stone columns carved with decorative motifs and inscriptions can be seen in this space. A visit to the building also includes a tour of its courtyards, roof, attic and an apartment. In the Espai Gaudí, located in the attic, visitors can observe the structure of its catenary arches and view the only interpretive exhibition on Gaudí and his work that it houses. The Pedrera Apartment is located on the building’s fourth floor and its aim is to display two aspects of La Pedrera: its architecture and how it was lived in. This is why a period apartment was recreated there, entirely refitting it with original elements of the era in order to show what life was like for a bourgeois family in Barcelona in the early 20th century.