Art Nouveau: Life After Death?

Art Nouveau

Aside from the fact that nearly all of the Art Nouveau buildings designed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were destroyed, the spirit of it lives on in the form of modern architecture today. Defined as a transitional phase into modern architecture, the Art Nouveau era capitalized on the idea of new buildings, new ways of art and principles of design, and an escape from the rigid historical boundaries of the past. Modern architects such as: Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van Der Rohe, Paul Rudolph, Le Corbusier, etc. wouldn’t have such solid foundations in the Modern way of design if it weren’t for this transitional phase of architecture and for the architects who sought to rise up above the standard, monotone way of design of their day and carve out a new era. Art Nouveau “Represented the last attempt at a sortie on the part of Art imprisoned by technical advance within her ivory tower.” (Benjamin)

Facade of Tassel Mansion

With the development of new mechanical systems and the Industrial Revolution on the rise, the economy prospered all over Europe and America. In this new age where families had more money to spend on homes, they desired more aesthetically pleasing and exotic designs from the architects; another contributing factor to the creation of the Art Nouveau era. Surprisingly to me, the Art Nouveau era started in Belgium of all places and spread to France, Europe, and America. It was later given the nick name of “Jugendstil” which is German for “Young Style”, which was fabricated on signs and buildings across the world to express the freshness of the style.

            It is interesting how the designers of this time attempted to stray away from the classical and Beaux Art approach and yet they still incorporated the concepts of John Ruskin’s Arts and Craft Movement. They claim it to be different and new and yet in most cases, we will take Victor Horta for example, it is just a cluster of multiple historic styles; somewhat hypocritical in my opinion. Something explored much further in this era though, is how they dealt with the facades of the building and how materials inspired and were generators for form in design. Wood, stone, glass, iron all yielded different results.

Interior of Tassel Mansion

            A Belgian man by the name of Victor Horta embodied these approaches to the dime. His compositions were very ornate, exotic, sensuous, and expressive succumbing in the direction of organic, natural forms. An influential composition of his is the Tassel mansion in Brussels constructed in 1895. It is extremely intricate in not only the front façade, but also it carries into the interior with beautiful curvilinear and flower like patterns painted on the wall, structural steel columns that evolve into tree limbs as they reach the ceiling, floor tiles that carry design to other parts of the building, etc. In this project he worked a lot with the grid system and how he split up the main areas of each floor, mainly the ground floor into three sections, placing the openings to each section in a manner to force a perspective that wouldn't be seen otherwise. As mentioned above, he used multiple design styles to create this effect. The following excerpt goes into detail on this matter:

“What Horta managed in the façade of the Tassel House (and what he sustained in the interior as well) was something quite different: a simultaneous abstraction and integration of motifs into a whole that might suggest anything from an Italian palazzo to a modern townhouse to an Egyptian temple, or indeed all of these things – and none of them – at once.” (Victor)

His later work really exemplifies the change to modern architecture. Here is an example of how his work has been watered down, in my opinion, or better said simplified and cleaner; or more Modern in nature.

Brussels Central Station

            Hector Guimard was a man who was inspired by Viollet le Duc and his ideas of architecture tectonics. He integrated new steal production into most of his work often using Ironwork railings, balconies, structural elements as the mode for his organic embellishments. In his work he often paid close attention to detail, a common trait amongst Art Nouveau architects, and expanded on the idea of the “open plan” or “free plan” later implemented in the work of Le Corbusier. As steel and iron became ever abundant at this time his work in the Paris Metro Station flourished. The entrances and exits can still be seen today with natural free-flowing iron structure supporting translucent glass and the popular Art Nouveau text projecting METROPOLITAIN.

Paris Metro Station

Bauhaus in Germany

            Henry van der Velde was a Belgian man of passion. He strived to protect this new Jugendstil from becoming another popular fashion motif, but rather a timeless style of building. To him Art Nouveau wasn’t a fashion; it was a logical form based architecture that demonstrated a modern style that was continually new, separate from the dead classical style of the past.

            Early in his life he worked as a director of design in some school systems in Germany before World War II. Hitler asked him politely to leave the country since he was a Belgian citizen, but before he left he recommended that a colleague of his be promoted to his position. This man was Walter Gropius and later founded the Bauhaus, an influential school of design for crafts and the fine arts that is referenced in modern architecture today. To Velde’s dismay the Art Nouveau era died out around 1920 and “It was seen by contemporaries and even its own exponents as entirely obsolete.” (Walter)

De Boekentoren University Library

            In Velde’s work he worked with carpet and tapestry and other building designs. A famous piece he worked on when he was eighty years of age was the De Boekentoren University Library in Ghent, Belgium. It was a unique design for a library that involved the idea of book towers, the way the simple windows open up to form an undulating plane, and how the height of the building connects the earth and sky in plan view as a Greek cross.

            Needless to say, exploring how these three men affected architecture in such a short time frame deserves notoriety. Along with others from the Jugendstil era, these three architects helped carve the way and make the transition from classic architecture to the new modern style that we know today.

Works Cited:

Walter Benjamin the Birth of Pleinairism from the Spirit of the Interior. Academic Lecture. College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University. Architecture History 329. Accessed 09-15-2011.

Victor Hotta Early Work and Influences. Academic Lecture. College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University. Architecture History 329. Accessed 09-15-2011.

Benjamin Paris Capital of the Nineteenth Century. Academic Lecture. College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University. Architecture History 329. Accessed 09-15-2011.