La Pedrera

We have been to see La Pedrera – an amazing Gaudi house in the centre of Barcelona. It is hard to know where to start – no corner is square, no wall is straight, everything is curved, carved, tiled, circular, twisted, arched, swirled, inlaid, made from stone, wood, tile, glass, mosaics and wrought iron. Nothing is as you’d expect. Every room or space is an art work itself.

The building was made as an apartment for a wealthy family a despite nothing being straight or square, is a very liveable space. The roof however, is where Gaudi has really gone to town. The roof is an undulating, tiled and stepped surface crowned by the most fantastic, (as in weird) chimney pots. Some are like monsters out of Star Wars and other are more like soft serve icecreams – definitely not your standard, boring chimney pots. With the late afternoon sun enhancing their colours and shadows they seem to almost take on a life of their own. I can only looks at them in awe and try to imagine the type of creative mind that can design and build these things. Gaudi has done it again.