I'm having a love affair with Barcelona and its architecture

Today I visited La Pedrera, a beautiful building by Antoni Gaudi, a Catalan architect who started the Modernista or Art Nouveau movement in Barcelona, for all you non-archies. He is the reason why I'm studying architecture, and what better way to study his works than to live in the city where he left behind a legacy.

I loved the feeling of the stone columns and walls. The texture is rough to the touch, and people must have thought I was crazy to be admiring the columns instead of Maillol's exhibit of paintings on the walls.

The interior atrium is amazing, too. The light that enters reflects on the walls, which are painted in tints of purple and blues in certain points. The whole thing looks magical. I love the organic forms of the balcony's, especially the iron-work. Unfortunately, it's ashame that the museum has added a drop ceiling and covered most of the walls with flat drywall to display the art. Also, heavy curtains are drawn over the windows looking out into the atrium to limit any sort of glare. It's just unfortunate that this building gets covered up so much from the inside.