Palau de Musica de Catalan (Important Location)

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The Palau de Musica de Catalan is located in the La Ribera/El born area. I surprisingly didn't really even know about it until I was walking to the Picasso Museum and stumbled upon this magnificent look building, with ornate architectural details and brilliant mosaic tilings. I think it may be the most beautiful building in Barcelona. So, when I came upon it, I was surprised that I had never heard of it. I went in a got a brochure and saw that it was the Palau de Musica de Catalan.

When I later returned to my home, I decided to research it because I was more curious about the building and I was still kind of shocked that even 2 months into my abroad immersion in Barcelona, I hadn't heard of the building. I learned that it was built between 1905 and 1908 by the architect, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, as a headquarters for the Orfeó Català, a choral society founded in 1891 that was a leading force in the Catalan cultural movement that came to be known as the Renaixença (Catalan Rebirth). And after learning that I remembered we learned about the Renaixença in class. The wealthy citizens of Barcelona asked its architect for building materials and techniques that symbolized the Catalan character.The design of the Palau is typical of Catalan modernism in that curves predominate over straight lines, dynamic shapes are preferred over static forms, and rich decoration that emphasizes floral and other organic motifs.

The Palau de Musica de Catalan is important to the Catalan Culture because it was built to strengthen the Catalan Identity. This is why the decoration of building shows some representations of the "quatre barres" (which is the Catalan coat of arms). It's primary purpose was to support Catalan music and culture and came about during a very important time in the preservation of Catalan Identity, the Renaixença. Not only did it architecturally express Catalan ideas, but also it was built as a headquarters for the Catalan choral society, which was a way of promoting Catalan language and culture also.

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