Art Nouveau, Jugendstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines, and the use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms and larger open spaces. It was popular between 1890 and 1910 during the Belle Époque period, and was a reaction against the academicism, eclecticism and historicism of 19th century architecture and decorative art.
Koekelberg is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Ganshoren, Jette, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch).
Victor Pierre Horta was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theorist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1892–93), often considered the first Art Nouveau house, is based on the work of Viollet-le-Duc. The curving stylized vegetal forms that Horta used in turn influenced many others, including the French architect Hector Guimard, who used it in the first Art Nouveau apartment building he designed in Paris and in the entrances he designed for the Paris Metro. He is also considered a precursor of modern architecture for his open floor plans and his innovative use of iron, steel and glass.
The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic minor basilica and parish church in Brussels, Belgium. It is dedicated to the Sacred Heart, inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Paris. Symbolically, King Leopold II laid the first stone in 1905 during the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Belgian independence. The construction was halted by the two world wars and finished only in 1970. Belonging to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels, it is the 14th largest church by area in the world and the largest in Belgium.
Paul Hankar was a Belgian architect and furniture designer, and an innovator in the Art Nouveau style.
Gustave Strauven was a Belgian architect of the Art Nouveau style. He created more than 30 buildings, using new technologies and incorporating wrought iron floral motifs.
The Hôtel Tassel is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by Victor Horta for the scientist and professor Emile Tassel, and built between 1892 and 1893, in Art Nouveau style. It is considered one of the first buildings in that style because of its highly innovative plan and its ground-breaking use of materials and decoration. It is located at 6, rue Paul-Emile Janson/Paul-Emile Jansonstraat, a few steps from the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan.
The Autrique House is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. This house, built in 1893, was the first designed by Victor Horta in Art Nouveau style, and represents an essential step in the evolution of the Belgian architect. In many ways, it was an innovative dwelling, although it does not feature the novel spatial composition of the almost contemporary Hôtel Tassel. It is located at 266, chaussée de Haecht/Haachtsesteenweg, in the municipality of Schaerbeek.
The Horta Museum is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to the life and work of the architect Victor Horta and his time. The museum is housed in Horta's former town house and workshop, built between 1898 and 1901, in Art Nouveau style. It is located at 23–25, rue Américaine/Amerikaansestraat in the municipality of Saint-Gilles.
The Cauchie House is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by the architect, painter, and designer Paul Cauchie, and built in 1905, in Art Nouveau style. Its façade is remarkable for its allegorical sgraffito decoration.
Gabriel Van Dievoet was a Belgian decorator and Liberty style sgraffitist. He was the brother of the architect Henri Van Dievoet.
The Maison du Peuple or Volkshuis, both literally the "House of the People", was a public building located on the Place Emile Vandervelde/Emile Vanderveldeplein, in the Sablon/Zavel district of Brussels, Belgium. It was one of the most influential Art Nouveau buildings in Belgium and one of the most notable designs by the architect Victor Horta. Commissioned by the Belgian Workers' Party (POB/BWP), it was constructed between 1896 and 1899, and opened on 2 April 1899.
The Brussels International Exposition of 1897 was a world's fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from 10 May 1897 through 8 November 1897. There were 27 participating countries, and an estimated attendance of 7.8 million people.
Bernard de Walque is a Belgian architect. He lives and works in Belgium.
The Art Nouveau movement of architecture and design first appeared in Brussels, Belgium, in the early 1890s, and quickly spread to France and to the rest of Europe. It began as a reaction against the formal vocabulary of European academic art, eclecticism and historicism of the 19th century, and was based upon an innovative use of new materials, such as iron and glass, to open larger interior spaces and provide maximum light; curving lines such as the whiplash line; and other designs inspired by plants and other natural forms.
The Hankar House is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by the architect Paul Hankar, and built in 1893, in Art Nouveau style. It is generally considered one of the first buildings in that style because of its highly innovative plan and its ground-breaking use of materials and decoration.
The whiplash or whiplash line is a motif of decorative art and design that was particularly popular in Art Nouveau. It is an asymmetrical, sinuous line, often in an ornamental S-curve, usually inspired by natural forms such as plants and flowers, which suggests dynamism and movement. It took its name from a woven fabric panel "Cyclamen", by the German artist Hermann Obrist (1895) which depicted the stems and roots of the cyclamen plant, which critics dubbed "Coup de Fouet" ('whiplash'). The panel was later reproduced by the textile workshop of the Darmstadt Artists Colony.
The Hôtel Hannon is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. Constructed between 1903 and 1904, in Art Nouveau style, for the industrialist Édouard Hannon, it is the only house in that style designed by the architect Jules Brunfaut.
The Villa Beau-Site, also known as the Nelissen House, is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. It was built in 1905, in Art Nouveau style, as the private residence of Dutch-born architect Arthur Nelissen and his wife, soon after their wedding. It was classified as a protected monument in 2006. It is located at 5, avenue du Mont Kemmel/Kemmelberglaan in the municipality of Forest.
Marcel Leborgne was a Belgian architect. His work is essentially modernist. His career is concentrated in the Charleroi region at the height of the modernism movement in Belgium.
