Luxurious Casa Míla Barcelona, a Desirable Address by Gaudi

Casa Míla was architected by Antoni Gaudi and surrounded by much controversy, exorbitant expense, and legal battles. But, his stubbornness to build a masterpiece prevailed. This iconic apartment building has been home to the rich, famous and powerful residents of Barcelona who appreciate excellence in design, style, function and above all comfort. Nothing less could be expected of the great architect of La Sagrada Familia.

Casa Míla is a luxury apartment building in Barcelona, Spain. It is located on Passeig de Gràcia, the famous avenue that attracted all the rich Barcelonians of early 1900s to build their fancy homes. This major street is lined with architectural gems of Barcelona that competed to build the most iconic houses. Casa Míla is lovingly also called La Pedrera by Barcelonians. La Pedrera literally means “stone quarry” in Catalan. It refers to its outer appearance of Casa Míla since the stone was a key material used to design the façade and balconies.

La Pedrera was Antoni Gaudí’s last civil work, which he initiated in 1906 and completed in 1912. While many of Gaudi’s work such as Park Güell, Palau Güell and Colònia Güell were commissioned by Eusebi Güell, La Pedrera was commissioned by Pere Milà and Roser Segimon, who wanted to live on one floor and rent the remaining floors. The history of Casa Míla and its stakeholders is quite fascinating. Some sections of the building are now open for visitors and others continue to be home to private residents.

Visiting Casa Míla, Barcelona before the Pandemic

We visited Casa Míla in January 2020, before the pandemic changed the world. So our account here is that of a pre-pandemic Barcelona. While the history and architecture of Casa Míla remain the same, the tour experience will involve COVID-19 safety protocols.

Like Gaudi’s other creations, Sagrada Familia and Park Güell, Casa Míla is a very popular attraction. One must pre-purchase tickets online for particular time slots advance. Even then, there is a long line at the entrance. 

Our tour of La Pedrera was discounted by the foundation, but the opinions are entirely our own.

Casa Míla's Outer Façade

Here is a street view of Casa Míla. It is clearly inspired by nature and its curves. There are no sharp angles to be seen on the outside or inside of this luxury apartment building.To me the structure resembles a community thriving in a forest.

The vines that form the balcony have so much detail! Check the forest critters and animals on the wrought iron carved leaves and branches! This design prevails throughout – inside & outside the building.

The stone facade inspires the name La Pedrera (stone quarry).

The architecture clearly resembles nature. Check the iron balconies that look like vines in a forest.

Tour of La Pedrera, Barcelona

Casa Míla is run by a foundation that manages the property with revenue from tickets and events. While some floors are occupied by residents, others are open for visitors, namely –

1. Ground Level – Gaudi room (former garage), ticketing office, gift shop, lockers, and courtyards.
2. Warrior Rooftop offers 360-degree views for Barcelona. 
3. The Whale Attic offers a backstage tour of Gaudi’s architecture style and inspirations.
4. An apartment on the 4th floor staged as a typical apartment in the early 1900s.
5. The Flower courtyard and Butterfly courtyard.
6. Milà Family’s Apartment, now an exhibition site.

The ticket price includes an audio guide, which is a must if you’d like to know the stories of La Pedrera, Barcelona, Antoni Gaüdi, Mr Mila, the local government, the merchants of Catalonia and more. Its the stories that bring the place alive.

This map of Casa Míla is displayed on the ground level. The smaller circle on the left is the Flower Courtyard and the oval shape on the right is the Butterfly Courtyard. Both open to the sky and allow for light and air to the apartments.

Tour Starting at La Pedrera's Butterfly Courtyard

After entering at the ground level,  we put our things away in lockers and picked our headphone for a self-guided audio tour.

We started our tour on the ground level, in the Butterfly Courtyard adorned by structures that look like enormous butterflies. The ground level was originally designed as a parking lot. Today its houses the auditorium and Gaudi Room.

Looking up to the sky from the Butterfly Courtyard of Casa Míla, we see umpteen glass windows that allow natural light into the apartments.

The Butterfly courtyard is covered by the massive butterfly wings and opens up to the sky. Who could tell this would have been a parking lot above the basement that goes down 4.70 meters. The building is held up by 90 columns of iron, brick, and stone in the basement. It was quite and feat of engineering.

Butterfly courtyard in Case Mila opens up to the blue sky

The iron gate leading to the Butterfly Courtyard resembles patterns on a butterfly wing.

Stairs to Casa Mila's Warrior Rooftop

La Pedrera has 6 sets of stair cases. Today, some are used by residents and others by visitors. Each stair case is artistically designed with metal strip and plaster art work on the walls.

One of the 6 stairwells in Casa Mila took us up to the rooftop.

The rails on the stairs follow the same black iron design of a forest.

Warrior Rooftop of La Pedrera

Beautiful structures adorn the rooftop of La Pedrera. Each structure solves a real human need for – ventilation, lighting, and insulation while transforming common structures such as – chimneys, towers and stairs. They enhance lifestyle, provide comfort and add beauty.

The structures on top of Casa Míla represent elements of nature such as earth, fire, wind, and water. The curators describe them with simple labels. Well-informed docents are always at hand to answer questions. 

The heavy roof seals the building against the elements with these elaborate structures. The heavy floor is supported by arches in the attic, using an ingenious design.

“Buildings need to have a double roof, just like people have a hat and a parasol.” Antoni Gaudi.

Four of the six stairs are covered with trencadís. Two of them made with recycled, monochrome stone, marble or ceramic. Other two are covered with lime and plaster.

A ventilation towers in Casa Míla refresh air in the attic.

Some chimneys are individual freestanding structures, and others arranged in groups of 3 or 4. Their structure and rotation enables aerodynamic displacement of smoke from within.

Like other blocks in L’Eixample district, Casa Míla also has an inner square. I wonder if they were as built-out originally or if they were green zones. Many of the blocks have parks and trees in the center for fresh air.

The octagonal intersection in L’Eixample district is perfect for good visibility around the corner, for air circulation and lighting within the intersections.

Whale Attic and Gaudi's Architecture Museum

The massive roof is supported by the equally gorgeous and architecturally brilliant structures in the attic. Inspired by skeletal structures of animals, the rib cage holds the outside and protects the inside of the living, breathing building.

An archway in the attic of La Pedrera.

Function and strength meets design.

Lightweight and artistic fan shape arches.

A beautiful replica of Casa Míla in the museum attic.

Visitors flock to see Casa Míla’s model

Casa Míla’s interpretive museum about Gaudi’s engineering marvels.

The rib cage of vertibrates protects the organs within.

Gaudi constructed the attic on the floor slab of the top floor to support the rooftop. Inspired by the rib cage structure, he built the light weight catenary arch. It’s easy to build and supports itself without buttressing. To support the roof terrace, he used 270 catenary arches made with brick, without adding much weight.

Gaudi’s recreation of the strong rib cage for his living building.

Gaudi iterated through several models of the design with different weights to construct the final design.

Another model of the arches.

Each piece of furniture Gaudi created is meticulously designed for comfort and ergonomic support. 

Ergonomic chair and stool by Gaudi.

Bench and chair designed for comfort.

Notice the curves on the seat. They are precisely designed for comfort and fit to the human body. 

A structural model of Sagrada Familia in the museum at Casa Míla’s attic.

La Pedrera's Tenants’ Apartment in Early 1900s

The fourth floor apartment in Casa Míla is now setup as a museum and reflects the lifestyle of a bourgeois family in Barcelona in the early 1900s. It beautifully depicts the architecture and its habitability. Gaudi’s attention to detail and residents’ comfort clearly shines through.

Home office of a tenant at La Pedrera.

A well appointed desk suitable for the executive.

A tricycle, crafted from wood and metal. Nothing less would suffice for the children that live in a house designed by Gaudi.

A telephone in Casa Míla.

Frosted glass windows on the inside corridor allow for privacy, air and natural light in every part of the La Pedrera apartment.

A serving space in the kitchen.

The Butterfly bed in La Pedrera with matching bedside table and crib.

A dining table fit for entertaining and for the family in Casa Míla.

Workspace where the house keepers took care of mending, sewing, laundry and many chores for the La Pedrera tenant family.

The kids’ and nannies rooms were on the inner of the building so as to minimize noise from the street. The nanny could watch the children during the day from the work rooms. At night they cared of the kids’ needs so the parents could sleep.

Classic Gaudi tile designs in the Casa Mila museum with relief motifs inspired by marine life – octopus, starfish, and conch shell.

A well used tiled floor in the La Pedrera apartment. Similar tiles are found on the street outside.

In Casa Míla the apartment entrance greets you with patterns inspired by nature. Vertical ribbons of metal are adapted to fit the available space.

Casa Míla’s doorknobs are designed to seamless fit the natural curves of the hand – blend of form and function. If you have an eye for details, check the leaf shaped keyhole below the doorknob..

The details that matter hide in plain sight.

A luxurious bathroom in Casa Míla is appointed with beautiful tiles and wavy ceiling for aesthetics. Its a bathroom well appointed with modern comforts.

Family dining in the comfort of the kitchen.

A well craft highchair for the stylish baby.

A food processor.

Remember the kitchen of the Jain business family in Jaisalmer?

In every fashionable home, kitchen is where we find innovative tools of the trade. Here’s a stove of the early 1900s.

A full size oven.

If the kitchen makes you hungry, there are plenty of amazing vegetarian pintxos and vegan foods in Barcelona.

Flower Courtyard of Casa Míla, Barcelona

The Flower courtyard’s ground floor is lined with beautiful plants and paintings of nature.

A look down from the rooftop shows the well ventilated Flower courtyard.

The Flower courtyard of Casa Míla is the starting or ending place of the audio tours. A glance around reveals the beauty on the walls, ceilings and the floor.

Exquisite painting on the ceiling of La Pedrera’s Flower courtyard.

The continuing metal designs in the Flower Courtyard.

Milà Family’s Apartment

The Milà family apartment is on the second floor, above the courtyard. It is now used as an events and exhibition hall. 

Stairs leading up to the Míla family apartment.

Family apartment to the courtyard.

If you enjoyed touring Casa Míla, home of the rich and famous of Barcelona, you’ll love the exquisitely ornate homes of wealthy merchants of Jaisalmer.

Wouldn’t it be amazing living in a house like Casa Míla! How would you decorate it?

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