His buildings displayed a mixture between rationalism and fabulous ornamentation inspired by Spanish-Arabic architecture, and followed the curvilinear design typical of Art Nouveau.

In the El castell dels 3 dragons restaurant in Barcelona (built for the World's Fair in 1888), which was for many years the Zoological Museum, he applied very advanced solutions (a visible iron structure and ceramics).

Domènech i Montaner's work evolved towards more open structures and lighter materials, evident in the Palau de la Música Catalana.

With his colleague Antoni Maria Gallissà he subsequently set up a workshop for advanced work on the decorative arts applied to architecture.

[4] Domènech i Montaner's buildings combine structural rationality with extraordinary ornamentation inspired by Hispano-Arabic architectural tradition and by the curves typical of Modernisme.

They were in the architectural vanguard at the time, with the use of structural steel and the total utilization of exposed brickwork, and incorporated a profusion of mosaics, ceramics and stained glass, arranged in exquisite harmony.

[6] As the years went by, unlike many Modernista architects, Domènech i Montaner's buildings tended to become lighter, reducing the amount of structural material but retaining ornamentation as a primary element.

This influence can be seen in a number of Domènech's works from before 1878 (the year when he published his manifesto En busca d'una arquitectura nacional): the Clavé family tomb and the Casa Montaner on the Ronda de la Universitat, as well as a project for the provincial education institutions that was never built.

[7] The building for the Editorial Montaner i Simón (1879–1885) was in fact his first work after the manifesto and it employs Mudejar decorative solutions while not abandoning Germanic influence and symbolism.

[7] Domènech went beyond European manifestations, employing a forthright new language to implement an architectural approach founded on a new, integrated concept of all the arts.

Domènech received a number commissions associated with the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888), thanks to his close friendship with Elies Rogent, director of the School of Architecture and of the works for the Exposition.

Domènech deploys an ornamental language in which nature helps lighten the spirit as it penetrates into all the rooms by way of the stained glass, ceramics and mosaics.

Domènech used very advanced structural solutions in this work, including laminated sections, a steel frame stabilized by a system of buttresses and perimetral vaults of Gothic inspiration and large walls of glass.

[12] This building is a paradigm of Domènech's work: the control of the interior space and the light by means of the double facade, the stylistic unity of all the applied arts—sculpture, mosaic, stained glass and wrought ironwork.

With the combination of the Catalan vault and steel structures like those employed at the Tres Dragons and the Palau, large, clear spaces were made possible.

The sobriety of the brickwork so typical of Domènech's work is tempered by the warmth of the Montjuïc stone, as is also the case in the Palau de la Música, with sculptures by Pau Gargallo and Francesc Madurell i Torres.

In 1904, after falling out with Francesc Cambó, he ceased to contribute to La Veu de Catalunya and founded the weekly El Poble Català.

He was editor of the Biblioteca Artes y Letras, published by Editorial Domènech, the family firm, for which he also designed many book-covers, and which included the works of the country's best writers and translations of the most important European authors of the time.

[16] In company with his friends Antoni M. Gallissà and Josep Font i Gumà and with members of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, he visited Romanesque churches in several parts of Catalonia; in 1904, those of Pallars, Ribagorça and Cerdanya; in 1905, those of Ripollès, Gironès, Vallespir, Rosselló and Vall d'Aran; and finally, in 1906 he visited the churches of Empordà, whose style he dubbed First Romanesque.

That same year he chaired the assembly that drew up the Bases de Manresa, a document that laid the foundations for the return of the historic rights acknowledged by the Catalan constitutions.

The Lliga was made up of sectors of the middle class who were disappointed with the policies of Polavieja and mobilized by the Tancament de Caixes; it stood for a Catalonia that would be free, strong and autonomous.