Trencadís and the art of reuse

On the rooftop of Casa Milà you can find these ventilation ducts and chimneys, some of which are decorated with the famous "trencadís" technique (from the Catalan word "trencar", which means "to break"). This technique consists in use of broken tiles and reused material to create beautiful shapes.

In other places like the Park Güell, Trencadís was used for the undulating bench, and was done mostly with the leftovers of glass and ceramics. Gaudí wanted to reuse the things that were left behind by other people, so he could create beautiful colors. This might be considered as one of the first ecological art creation.

Today, this mosaic technique has become mainstream, and it can be found in any corner around the world. However, 150 years ago this was not the case and this was completely a revolution of decoration for the following reasons:

- It was so simple, it could be built by any operator in the construction site.

- It was very affordable since it did not require any high quality material

- It could get adapted to the curve shapes that Gaudí used to build

- The outcome was very beautiful

From this rooftop of Casa Milà you can enjoy some of the most beautiful views of the Passeig de Gràcia street, one of the most beautiful ones in Barcelona