Built between 1905 and 1908 as a concert hall for the choral society Orfeó Català, The Palau de la Música Catalana was designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, in the Catalan Modernista style.
But although the building is characterized by the style's curving lines and colorful palette, unlike Gaudi's works, this design puts function ahead of form. Although the interior décor is just as colorful and fanciful as the outside, its shape and decoration are dedicated to choral and other musical performances.
The concert hall of the Palau, which seats about 2,200 people, is the only auditorium in Europe illuminated during daylight hours entirely by natural light.
The walls on two sides consist primarily of stained-glass panes set in magnificent arches, and overhead is an enormous skylight of stained glass designed by Antoni Rigalt whose centerpiece is an inverted dome in shades of gold surrounded by blue that suggests the sun and the sky. Elaborate sculptures frame the concert stage.
