“Few buildings reinforce a sense of social identity as much as the Palau de la Música in Barcelona,” Robert Hughes, an art critic, said during a recent visit to the city.

The concert hall, a masterpiece by one of Catalonia’s leading modernist architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, was built with donations from the burghers of the city during Catalonia’s golden age of politics and culture. It is celebrating its centenary this year.