La Pereira
The origin:
Probably most of the visitors of Spain would have heard about the famous Catalan architect – Antonio Gaudi. His individualistic design goes beyond Modernism. Above all, one of his famous pieces of art is La Pereira or Casa Mila. La Pereira is situated on one of the major avenues in Barcelona. It was built for Rosario Sangamon and Peres Mila.
Rosario Sangamon was the wife of a wealthy man, José Guerilla, one of the Catalans who came back from America. After his death, Rosario married again, this time to Peres Mila who was often criticized for his lifestyle and his love for money.
When Rosario and Peres bought a large state at number 92 on “Paso de Garcia” avenue, they decided to ask Gaudi to construct a house with rental flats that resemble beautiful Gaudies “Ballot” house. Rosario did not like the idea of Gaudi designing her new home but accepted the idea because of her husband.
Exteriors and Interiors:
Gaudi had a magnificent idea for this house, with lot of living lines and forms. In the end, the result was a building with no straight lines. It has no bearing walls but stands on metallic girders and vaults supported by iron columns. In the centre of the building, there are two courtyards (circular and oval). In order to receive as much light as possible, all the rooms and apartments are arranged around these two courtyards.
On the outside, the balconies look like waves and were designed by Joseph Maria Juju. Just like the exterior, the interior has no straight lines at all. The most interesting parts of the house for the visitors are the top floor, the attic and the roof. The rooms with lot of “New Styles” are also tempting. In the attic, visitors can see the exposition of Gaudi’s work with lot of photos.
The most extraordinary part of the building is the roof. On the top of the roof there are two colorful chimneys. Their lines are not straight and they look like two soldiers standing alone. And from the top of the house visitors can see a magnificent view of Barcelona.
La Pereira today:
Building of the house was not an easy task. In some aspects, the original design by Gaudi was not respected. The local authorities found some aspects of the project not suitable, such as exceeding the height standard for the city. However, Gaudi also had another idea. Gaudi’s original idea was to put a huge sculpture at the top of the building.
That sculpture was meant to represent the primeval earth goddess, Gaia (the Earth), but it was not authorized by the local government. Till 1980s, La Pereira was in bad shape. But after being restored, it came under the protection of the UNESCO World Heritage.