| 1 The Fact | · What is the designer’s/architect’s name? (research
o Designed by Victor Horta a Belgian Architect and Designer o Movements and Styles: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modern Architecture o Born January 6, 1861 – Ghent, Belgium Died: September 8, 1947 – Brussels, Belgium o · What is the title/name of the object/building? (research) o Hôtel Tassel: Built for the Belgian scientist Edmond Tassel, this building is considered by some scholars to be the first Art Nouveau building in Brussels. It is certainly Horta’s first mature work in this style. Horta made a break with the past here · When was it made? (research) o Brussels (1893) originally built as a town house commissioned for scientist and professor Emile Tassel · What is the designer’s/architect’s background? (research) o By 1885, he had joined the Société Centrale de l’Architecture Belge (Central Society of Belgian Architecture), established his own independent practice, and built three houses (his only structures in his native city) o Famous for his pioneering work in Art Nouveau and the conversion of the style from the decorative arts into architecture in the early 1890s. o The designer illustrates deep understanding of the capabilities of industrial advances with iron and glass as structure and infill materials.
|
|||||
| 2 The Personal | · What are your first reactions to the work? (reflective)
o I like the effortlessness and seamless lines of the building. It is the most likable feature of the design · Why do you think or feel this way? (reflective) o The large windows and use of stone. However, I am not fond of the colour used for the iron materials and feel the architect could have went with other choices. · Does anything you see relate to your own personal experience? (reflective) o The use of stone and large windows which are really favourable materials and design options for me. · Or relate in any way to your own ideas and work? (reflective) · Would you like to make work similar to this? (reflective · When I design my project for this term I will try to incorporate some of the elements of this building specially the organic shapes attached to the iron columns and the stone work. |
|||||
| 3 The Object | · What different things can you see in the work? (reflective)
o The mezzanine floor § Windows with small stone columns and tendrils gripping the iron rafter above and the base below. The exposed bolts seem part of the decorative program.
· Can you describe the work’s structure or composition? (reflective) o The building takes full advantage of the material used. Incorporating stone and modern material like metal, in domestic architecture. Materials that were normally used in train stations and mostly industrial structures at the time. o The modernity of Horta’s town house is also signalled by the extensive use of glass, where the window sizes may indicate the function of the interior. The facade includes classical elements like mouldings and columns but here some of the columns are iron, not stone, and the entablature is metal, complete with exposed rivets. In addition, this town house has features that would become characteristic of Horta’s domestic architecture: an open floor plan; a use of natural light; a unity of architecture, interior decoration, and furniture.
· How is the work organised / set out? (reflective/research) o By examining the building one can clearly see how the architect paid attention to details. It is remarkable how the architect blended unusual materials at the time with details and historical style. The lines flow with ease to create a smooth flow. · How was the work made? (research) o The building was designed with clear emphasis on the structure, which Horta makes frankly clear in the gloomy green iron columns that anchor the space. The thin posts come into a tangle of branches and vine-like twists at their crown, which then blend with the vines evident in the mosaic floor and the painted whiplash curves of the plants on the wall surfaces. · What is it made of? (research) o The use of stone and iron is clear. · What scale, colours, and qualities does the work have? (reflective) o Like many designs of that era and movement the building consists of light colours with white as the highlight although due to time and age the white stone darkened to give the building more character. |
|||||
| 4 The Subject | · What do you think the work is about? (reflective)
o I can see the effortless flow in the architect’s design. Often the most remarkable work is in its simplicity and this design is no exception. · Does it relate to something else, such as nature or art? (reflective/research) o To me the flowery, organic, and asymmetrical flowing form correspond to nature in its effortless effort to blend with its surroundings. · Does the way the work is made effect what it is about? (reflective/research) o The uncomplicatedness of the design and the quality of the build had a lasting effect on the building standing the test of time. The wide high windows and the clear use of iron can be easily mistaken for a modern built without compromising the functionality of the building. · What do you think the architect or designer wants you to think about? o In my view the architect wanted to present design quality and show that it does not compromise practicality. The design presents an alternate perspective on historical styles, an arts and crafts sensibility, and the modern materials of iron and glass. · Has the architect or designer written or spoken about the work? (research) o “I’m telling you, the materials are the same, you know as well as I do. Anyways, while in the past they were used in an empirical manner, a way which did not allow them to work to the limits of their safety due to the fear of the unforeseen, on the other hand, our era, thanks to the experiences and mathematical formulas that it has deduced, is capable of unknown and daring constructions.” · What have other people said or written about the work? (research) o Allot have been said and written by this particular design but perhaps the UNESCO puts it best when wrote “The Major Town Houses of Architect Victor Horta in Brussels are works of human creative genius, representing the highest expression of the influential Art Nouveau style in art and architecture.” · Does the title (or nickname) effect what the work is about? (reflective/research) o The building was named after the commissioner of the design. · What is the most important aspect of the work? (reflective) o The use of modern material such as iron and glass to achieve a high quality historical style building. |
|||||
| 5 The Context | · Relate the work to other architects’/designers’ work. (reflective/research)
o Like Makintoch, Horta was a pioneer of Art Nouveau. The build looks like Glasgow’s school building from its high windows and stone work to the use of Iron and asymmetrical design. · Relate the work to the outside world: the city or period the work was made in. (reflective/research) o From the 1890’s until the outbreak of World War I (1914), Art Nouveau was the improvement of an aesthetic reaction to the extremes of the industrial revolution’s this building represents a generation work towards reviving arts and its connection to how we live our lives. · Is the work part of a wider artistic movement? (reflective/research) o The design is one of many that belong to Art Nouveau movement than spun out of Art and crafts movement that wanted to revive beauty. · What about the historical or religious situation that might have affected the work? This is often referred to as the ‘conditions’ in which the work was produced. (research) o With its roots firmly in the second half of the 19th Century, in all of its various forms and translations, Art Nouveau became the doorway to our modern age. Incorporating the use of modern material to achieve high quality work. · Where does the work fit within the context of the artist’s own career? What part of their development did this work appear? (research) o The work represented a stepping stone for the architect career and the movement overall. |
|||||
| · | ||||||
Sources:
Favermann, M. (2011) Victor Horta’s Art Nouveau :www.berkshirefinearts.com/04-07-2011_victor-horta-s-art-nouveau.htm 2018/01/21
UNESCO, staff (2018) Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels):http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1005 2018/01/21
Art Story, Staff (2018) Victor Horta Belgian Architect and Designer http://www.theartstory.org/artist-horta-victor.htm 2018/01/21
SS Archi 