La Pedrera by day

This unusual roof, brimming with artistic force, bears no semblance to the architecture of its time. Its undulating shape is in keeping with the form and rhythm of the main façade, and different elements are laid out over the area: stairwells, ventilation shafts and chimneys. These dynamic and symbolic forms, open to interpretation, were designed to fulfil a functional role. Some of them are decorated with trencadís (broken tile shards), stone, marble and glass.

For the spectacular look of the façade and the originality of the roof, La Pedrera is considered one of the outstanding buildings of the 20th century.

This space is found in one of the gems of Gaudí’s architectural creations, the attic of La Pedrera, which once housed the laundry facilities. Formed by 270 catenary brick arches, it plays host to the only exhibition dedicated to Gaudí’s life and work and presents his creations through scale models and plans, objects and drawings, photographs and videos. It affords visitors an insight into the most distinctive elements of his oeuvre, as well as the fundamental aspects of his architecture and the secrets behind his genius.

The attics of the building, where the water tanks and washing lines were housed, are formed by two hundred and seventy catenary arches of different heights which hold up the roof.

Located on the fourth floor, this apartment recreates the home and lifestyle of a bourgeois family in Barcelona in the early 20th century. Recreating the original layout, fitted out with furniture and household items of the time as well as the decorative elements designed by Gaudí (knobs or handles, mouldings, doors and flooring), it offers visitors a glimpse of what it was like to live in. It is complemented by an audiovisual that provides an overview of the city’s rapid transformation and modernisation in the first quarter of the 20th century.

The La Pedrera Apartment shows the building in a twofold aspect: the architectural and the residential.
 

In La Pedrera, Gaudí innovated by joining the small ventilation courtyards in two large areas, in a spectacularly organic manner, which organised the floor plan and optimised light and ventilation. The façades of the courtyards are a veritable spectacle of forms, light and colour. Colour is lent by the murals that decorate them, mostly with floral motifs, which also adorn the ceilings and lateral walls of the two entrance lobbies and the main staircase, featuring various scenes with mythological references and polychromatic details.

Still living in the heart of the building. A show of shapes, light and colors.

On the first or main floor we find the residence of the Milà family. In 1992 this part was inaugurated as an exhibition room. The staircase from the vestibule, with its railings worked with spiralling iron ribbons, is decorated with mural paintings which at some points reproduce Gaudí’s trademark trencadís. Although few original elements have been conserved on this floor, since Señora Milà redid much of the decoration when Gaudí died, we can still see some sculpted stone columns, with ornamental motifs and inscriptions, and some fragments of false ceilings, which play with the idea of bringing continuity to the undulating rhythms of the façade.

This area of about 1,300 m² allows us to observe the open plan system used by Gaudí. It is open whenever there is an exhibition.