In 1893 the architect Victor Horta
designed the first Art nouveau building for professor Emile Tassel. This
terrace house was the first convincing example of the rejuvenation that
architecture was to undergo. This project soon let to new opportunities:
mansions for Armand Solvay and Edmond Van Eetvelde, the Maison du Peuple
for the Socialist Party,... To profuse variety of colour in the
interior, the direct expression of programmatic needs in its
architecture, the transformation of purely technical demands, the
visible use of steel beams in the interior, the play of natural light
inside the building, the same elements that are found in Victor Horta's
work. Paul Hankar's influence determined the course of the further
development of Art Nouveau. His achievements bear testimony to his love
of building materials and colourful combinations of them, of traditional
methods and techniques. A striking feature of Hankar's numerous shop
fronts is the slenderness and elegance of the woodwork, which looks as
if it was curved and bent by nature itself. Henry van de Velde considers
the "line as a force", as an elementary force of nature.
The example of pioneers like Horta, Hankar and van de Velde lead to
the influence of Art Nouveau spreading from Brussels to the whole of
Europe.
Brussels soon evolved from a beautiful 19th century city abundant
with remarkable examples of eclectic architecture, into the capital of
Art Nouveau. Once it had found its real domain, Art Nouveau diverged
into various styles: Horta adepts like Gustave Strauven and Ernst
Blérot, further developed its floral aspects. Léon Sneyers and Paul
Hamesse, both students of Paul Hankar, developed the pure rationality of
architecture to the point where the bare white plane had acquired a
right to exist as architecture. Designers like Paul Cauchie, Victor
Taelemans, Jean-Baptiste Dewin each tried to find their own personal
style within this geometric trend. The street was transformed into a
stage for unfolding of a oeuvre, the peak of artistic skill and
workmanship.
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