The art nouveau period in Brusssels started in 1893 with the construction of Victor Horta's H�tel Tassel and Paul Hankar's own house in rue Defacqz. It lasted until just before the first world war. The name "art nouveau" was first used when the art dealer Siegfried ("Samuel") Bing opened a store in Paris which he called the "Maison de l'Art Nouveau".

In the late 19th century Belgium was a prosperous country with income from industry and from its African colony, the Congo. In the 1870s the river Senne in Brussels was covered and diverted underground, and the boulevards were laid out on the Paris model. The king, Leopold II funded most of these developments himself in an effort to make Brussels a modern capital. The newly prosperous middle classes wanted to move out to the suburbs, and they wanted modern houses to show off their individuality and their taste. Iron and glass were being used for industrial building, and in the royal greenhouses at Laeken commissioned by the king. Architects like Victor Horta and Paul Hankar started to use them for houses as well. The use of iron for columns meant they could be much thinner than traditional stone columns. Plots of land in Brussels averaged 6 metres in width, and the traditional houses had three rooms from front to back, which meant that the middle room was usually dark. Horta started using stained glass light wells to bring light into this middle room.

Art nouveau architects undertook every aspect of the design, down to the door handles, bells, letterboxes and air vents, and often the furniture as well. Decoration was important, often including stained glass, mosaics or sgraffito. Inspiration for designs came from the natural world, flowing lines and organic forms, including Horta's famous whiplash movement.

Art nouveau in Belgium did not reject machines and industrialisation as the arts and crafts movement in Britain did, but there were undoubtedly influences in both directions. Other artists like the Austrian Josef Hoffmann came to Belgium to see this new style, and Hoffmann built the Palais Stoclet, placemarked here.

When art nouveau fell out of favour, a lot of the buildings were destroyed or "renovated". In the 1960s and 70s some buildings were demolished by property developers backed by politicians. Listed buildings such as Horta's "Maison du Peuple", the socialist party headquarters, could not be demolished, they were therefore "deconstructed" so that in theory they could be reconstructed elsewhere. In practice the pieces were left open to the elements, some parts were stolen, and they can never now be rebuilt. Some buildings survived years of neglect to reopen with a new purpose, for example the former Old England department store now the Musical Instrument Museum, and the former Waucquez shop, now the Belgian Comic Strip Centre, but many more were destroyed, the bulldozers sometimes moving in at night to avoid restraining orders. Ironically appartments in one of the new buildings thus created were advertised as having a magnificient view of the 19th century housing which remained.

The placemarks contain photos and where possible, further information about some of the buildings. This choice of placemarks is not by any means a complete guide to art nouveau in Brussels, more of a personal choice. There are still some places I would like to add in the future.



Interior photo of the H�tel Tassel


Railings from Horta's Maison du Peuple displayed at Horta metro station.

Sources:

Art Nouveau in Brussels, Editions des Archives d'Architecture Moderne
Art Nouveau in Brussels, from architecture to ornamentalism, published by Husson

ARAU, Atelier de Recherche et d'Action Urbaines. This is a non profit making organisation which offers tours of the city to visitors and residents. There are now other organisation which offer similar tours, but ARAU was the first, and I would strongly recommend them to anyone visiting Brussels. Their extremely knowledgeable guides show a different side of Brussels and explain how the city developed. A lot of my information came from these people. Any mistakes are mine, not theirs.