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| 2928 Stairway of Hôtel Tassel |
Posted on 15.01.2017, 03.12.2019
Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1861 and lived for several years in Paris before returning to Belgium to work as an architect in 1880. He achieved rapid success, working on several prestigious buildings and receiving a number of official posts including a position at the Free University of Brussels. From 1892, Horta began working in the new Art Nouveau style, being credited as the first to introduce the style to architecture from the decorative arts. Four of his buildings - Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde, and Maison & Atelier Horta - were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| 3281 Maison & Atelier Horta Closeup of the skylight |
The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, diffusion and transformation of light throughout the construction, the creation of a decor that brilliantly illustrates the curved lines of decoration embracing the structure of the building, the use of new materials (steel and glass) and the introduction of modern technical utilities. Through the rational use of the metallic structures, often visible or subtly dissimulated, Victor Horta conceived flexible, light and airy living areas, directly adapted to the personality of their inhabitants.
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