164 years ago today a Belgian designer called Victor Horta was born.
You probably haven't heard of him, but he was one of the most important architects in history.
Why? Because Horta created Art Nouveau... x.com
You probably haven't heard of him, but he was one of the most important architects in history.
Why? Because Horta created Art Nouveau... x.com
Imagine yourself in the late 19th century.
All architecture is directly based on the past: everything is Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Renaissance, and so on.
There is no original style unique to the age; everything is backwards looking. x.com
All architecture is directly based on the past: everything is Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Neo-Byzantine, Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Renaissance, and so on.
There is no original style unique to the age; everything is backwards looking. x.com
There's nothing wrong with that in principle, but across Europe a new generation was growing dissatisfied.
They believed architecture had become conventionalised β it simply copied the past for the sake of it, rather than being genuinely inspired.
Change was coming...
They believed architecture had become conventionalised β it simply copied the past for the sake of it, rather than being genuinely inspired.
Change was coming...
Think of how art had already started to evolve.
In the 1870s the Impressionists tried to give art new life β by turning away from the conventionalised art of the establishment and creating something authentically their own.
The same thing would soon happen with architecture. x.com
In the 1870s the Impressionists tried to give art new life β by turning away from the conventionalised art of the establishment and creating something authentically their own.
The same thing would soon happen with architecture. x.com
Enter Victor Horta, born in 1861.
He was the son a shoemaker β which may explain his love of craftsmanship β and became a star architectural student in his twenties.
His first project was as an apprentice, working on the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in Brussels. x.com
He was the son a shoemaker β which may explain his love of craftsmanship β and became a star architectural student in his twenties.
His first project was as an apprentice, working on the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in Brussels. x.com
Horta's breakthrough was his commission to build a house for the professor Emile Tassel in Brussels, in 1892.
From the outside it was (aside from some unusual details) broadly similar to other houses of the era, but inside Horta did something wholly revolutionary... x.com
From the outside it was (aside from some unusual details) broadly similar to other houses of the era, but inside Horta did something wholly revolutionary... x.com
There are two ways Horta experimented with the HΓ΄tel Tassel.
The first was structural β he used iron, steel, and glass in innovative ways, centering the house around a stairwell and giving it skylights and large windows to create an airy, light-filled interior. x.com
The first was structural β he used iron, steel, and glass in innovative ways, centering the house around a stairwell and giving it skylights and large windows to create an airy, light-filled interior. x.com
The second was decorative.
Horta filled with the HΓ΄tel Tassel with metalwork, paintings, and mosaics inspired by the shapes of nature β flowing, delicate, asymmetrical.
This was a wholly new ornamental language, freshly inspired rather than being based on historical designs. x.com
Horta filled with the HΓ΄tel Tassel with metalwork, paintings, and mosaics inspired by the shapes of nature β flowing, delicate, asymmetrical.
This was a wholly new ornamental language, freshly inspired rather than being based on historical designs. x.com
His next project was another house, the HΓ΄tel Solvay, and, with a bigger budget, Horta went even further.
Its main staircase says everything.
Notice, again, the prominence of glass β especially stained glass β and metalwork, both defined by their sumptuous, flowing forms. x.com
Its main staircase says everything.
Notice, again, the prominence of glass β especially stained glass β and metalwork, both defined by their sumptuous, flowing forms. x.com
The HΓ΄tel Solvay also speaks to the unity of Art Nouveau.
This was an all-encompassing design philosophy that placed particular emphasis on quality craftsmanship.
Doors, furniture, balconies, and even doorbells: every detail was given the same, cohesive, original aesthetic. x.com
This was an all-encompassing design philosophy that placed particular emphasis on quality craftsmanship.
Doors, furniture, balconies, and even doorbells: every detail was given the same, cohesive, original aesthetic. x.com
Then came the HΓ΄tel van Eetvelde, which again went further than the Solvay β Horta was essentially crafting, house by house, a gorgeous new kind of architecture.
Its standout feature is the internal winter garden, a kaleidoscope of tinted glass and steel. x.com
Its standout feature is the internal winter garden, a kaleidoscope of tinted glass and steel. x.com
He even designed his own house in Brussels, now known as the Horta Museum.
Again, it is a masterwork of form and detailing: the fine metalwork of the balustrades, the frescos, the great canopies of glass, the light-filled spaces, the asymmetrical flourishes of woodwork. x.com
Again, it is a masterwork of form and detailing: the fine metalwork of the balustrades, the frescos, the great canopies of glass, the light-filled spaces, the asymmetrical flourishes of woodwork. x.com
This style would soon spread from Belgium, first to France and then to the rest of the world.
It came to be known as Art Nouveau β meaning "New Art" in French.
Why so called? Because that's what it was: a totally new approach to architecture, not chained to the past.
It came to be known as Art Nouveau β meaning "New Art" in French.
Why so called? Because that's what it was: a totally new approach to architecture, not chained to the past.
Art Nouveau was still based on traditional principles of design, but rather than merely copying the past it absorbed those principles and gave them new life.
An Art Nouveau building doesn't look out of place beside something Classical or Gothic β but it is, clearly, different. x.com
An Art Nouveau building doesn't look out of place beside something Classical or Gothic β but it is, clearly, different. x.com
Of course, it wasn't Horta alone who created Art Nouveau, and others would go further in taking the style to its limits.
For example, Horta's friend Paul Hankar designed the HΓ΄tel Albert Ciamberlani, completed in 1897.
Another early Art Nouveau masterpiece. x.com
For example, Horta's friend Paul Hankar designed the HΓ΄tel Albert Ciamberlani, completed in 1897.
Another early Art Nouveau masterpiece. x.com
Meanwhile in Britain there was the Arts & Crafts Movement, which appeared before Art Nouveau and influenced Victor Horta himself.
Led by the likes of William Morris, the Arts & Crafts Movement was β like Art Nouveau β about creating an authentic, craft-focussed style.
Led by the likes of William Morris, the Arts & Crafts Movement was β like Art Nouveau β about creating an authentic, craft-focussed style.
Still, Horta is the starting point for Art Nouveau architecture; his work was the flashpoint for a growing artistic energy that exploded into life in the 1890s.
Something like the Maison Saint-Cyr in Brussels, designed by Gustave Strauven, was only possible thanks to Horta. x.com
Something like the Maison Saint-Cyr in Brussels, designed by Gustave Strauven, was only possible thanks to Horta. x.com
In France Art Nouveau was arguably taken to its heights. Paris itself is, for so many people, defined by its Art Nouveau aesthetic.
Think of the entrances to the Paris Metro, designed by Hector Guimard. x.com
Think of the entrances to the Paris Metro, designed by Hector Guimard. x.com
In Germany there was the Jugendstil and in Austria there was the Vienna Secession, two subvariants of the continental movement.
You can see that general motifs of Art Nouveau design included bulbous or oversized elements, whether doors or windows, plus plenty of colour. x.com
You can see that general motifs of Art Nouveau design included bulbous or oversized elements, whether doors or windows, plus plenty of colour. x.com
In Catalunya there was Catalan Modernism, the most unusual, colourful, and wildly experimental subtype of Art Nouveau.
Its most famous architect was Antoni Gaudi, but others like Josep Puig i Cadafalch or LluΓs DomΓ¨nech i Montaner were equally important. x.com
Its most famous architect was Antoni Gaudi, but others like Josep Puig i Cadafalch or LluΓs DomΓ¨nech i Montaner were equally important. x.com
All these subgenres of Art Nouveau, and others around the world, were about more than just buildings.
This was an all-encompassing movement that involved furniture, jewellery, clothes, crockery, sculpture, posters, and music.
Think of designers like Lalique, GallΓ©, or Tiffany. x.com
This was an all-encompassing movement that involved furniture, jewellery, clothes, crockery, sculpture, posters, and music.
Think of designers like Lalique, GallΓ©, or Tiffany. x.com
It even affected the world of painting.
Artists like Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt variously incorporated the flower-inspired forms of Art Nouveau, the luxurious and sensuous atmosphere, the decadent materials and colours, into their art. x.com
Artists like Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt variously incorporated the flower-inspired forms of Art Nouveau, the luxurious and sensuous atmosphere, the decadent materials and colours, into their art. x.com
Alas, Art Nouveau was only short-lived; by the time of WWI, in 1914, it was exhausted.
But it remains vastly influential and widely loved.
A style that feels sophisticated without being pompous, elegant without being frivolous β and one that, even now, still looks so original. x.com
But it remains vastly influential and widely loved.
A style that feels sophisticated without being pompous, elegant without being frivolous β and one that, even now, still looks so original. x.com
Art Nouveau would have appeared anyway β historical forces seemed to demand the emergence of a new style in the late 19th century.
But, even if that is true, it would not have taken the specific form it did without Victor Horta and his wonderful architecture in 1890s Belgium. x.com
But, even if that is true, it would not have taken the specific form it did without Victor Horta and his wonderful architecture in 1890s Belgium. x.com
And so Horta's four major houses in Brussels β Tassel, Solvay, van Eetvelde, and his own β are rightly a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of how they revolutionised architecture and gave the world one of its most beautiful, beloved styles.
Happy Birthday Victor Horta! x.com
Happy Birthday Victor Horta! x.com
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