Casa Lleó Morera in the 'block of discord' on Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona, 1902-1905. © COAC

The centenary of the death of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, born in 1849, is an opportunity to appreciate – with the perspective of time and in the spirit of historical interpretation – how his figure and legacy have grown in importance. The Barcelona-born architect had studied at the architecture school of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, earned his degree at the close of 1873, and developed multiple viewpoints in the course of a transversal practice, most famously as an architect but also as an urban planner. At the same time, he was an engraver, a designer, and an expert in heraldry. He entered politics in 1901 and served as a deputy in the Spanish Cortes in Madrid, within the Lliga Regionalista party, for a brief period, up to 1904. He designed the header and cover of the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya, the outlet for expression of a Catalan identitarianism that always characterized him…[+]