Horta, Guimard, van der Velde, and Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau, a relatively short-lived European Architecture movement near the dawn of the twentieth century, heralded the coming of a new age.  Inspired by natural forms and structures, it is universally characterized by its use of flowing, organic, curvilinear forms and connection to nature.  Art Nouveau, French for "new art" viewed the design of all things as a chance for artistic expression.  The movement was characterized by its ornate opulence and, as such, was restricted to the wealthy and could never move into the mainstream.

This staircase from Victor Horta's home demonstrates the ornate, organic forms of Art Nouveau.

The first recognized implementation of the Art Nouveau style in architecture is found in Belgian architect Victor Horta's Hôtel Tassel.  Hôtel Tassel, built in Brussels in 1894, broke the bounds of accepted architectural conventions of the day, featuring a groundbreaking open floor plan and prominently used, intricate iron-work.  He believed that his use of curvature in his iron work was not merely artistic expression, but also rather practical.  Horta continued to refine his definition of the style in his future work, resulting in Hôtel Tassel and three of his other townhouse designs being designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Victor Horta's Hôtel Tassel, the first example of architectural Art Nouveau.  

Its ornate facade did not seek to blend into the fabric of accepted architecture, 

but rather blazed a trail all its own.

Upon seeing Hôtel Tassel for himself, French architect Hector Guimard joined in the Art Nouveau movement.  Influenced by the rational writings of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Guimard sought the use of standardization and industrialization to efficiently utilize the new materials, glass and iron, that were available to him.  This is evidenced in few, if any, places more distinctly than in Guimard's designs for entrances to the Paris Metro.  Deeply committed to the ideals of harmony and continuity, Guimard took Art Nouveau into the design of interiors and furniture as a continuation of the overall design expression.  His use functional design in interiors is perhaps best noted in the Humbert-de-Romans concert hall where his frame design is said to produce "perfect acoustics."

This Paris Metro entrance demonstrates Guimard's use of standardization in 

Art Nouveau.  His belief in industrialization as a tool to design was a key 

component of evolving modernism.

Another prominent designer of the Art Nouveau movement was Belgian architect Henry van der Velde.  Van der Velde, originally a painter by trade, borrowed heavily from the Arts & Crafts movement upon his entrance to architecture.  Upon receiving recognition for his design work, van der Velde obtained several commissions in Berlin.  Popularized by German magazine Jugend, a publication devoted to spreading the image of the Jugendstil style (the German equivalent of Art Nouveau), Henry van der Velde made significant contributions to German architecture including participating in the Werkbund, an organization that promoted German design, and establishing the predecessor to the German Bauhaus.  Through these associations, he pushed the bounds of Art Nouveau into a new form of modernism.

The College of Arts and Crafts, designed by Henry van der Velde, 

was the predesessor to the German Bauhausschool and exhibits 

movement away from the flowing organic forms of earlier Art Nouveau 

for the clean lines of the German Jugendstil movement.

Art Nouveau, while historically short-lived, paved the way for the decades of modernism were to come.  The movement embraced the design of all elements as components of the overall design concept and inspired future architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright.  Art Nouveau, although primarily confined to Europe, sent out shockwaves that would be felt worldwide.