Art Nouveau

Hriday Das

13110014

B. Arch 2nd yr

IIT Roorkee

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, explores a new style in the visual arts and architecturethat developed in Europe and North America at the end of the nineteenth century.The exhibition is divided into three sections: the first focuses on the 1900 World'sFair in Paris, where Art Nouveau was established as the first new decorative styleof the twentieth century; the second examines the sources that influenced thestyle; and the third looks at its development and fruition in major cities in Europeand North America.At its height exactly one hundred years ago, Art Nouveau was a concertedattempt to create an international style based on decoration. It was developed bya brilliant and energetic generation of artists and designers, who sought tofashion an art form appropriate to the modern age. During this extraordinary time,urban life as we now understand it was established. Old customs, habits, andartistic styles sat alongside new, combining a wide range of contradictory imagesand ideas. Many artists, designers, and architects were excited by newtechnologies and lifestyles, while others retreated into the past, embracing thespirit world, fantasy, and myth.

Art Nouveau

At its beginning, Art Nouveau was the common name of the style, and

the style adopted different labels as it spread between artistic centers.

Those names came from, Siegfried Bing's gallery L'Art Nouveau in Paris.

Art Nouveau was in many ways a response to the Industrial Revolution. Some

artists welcomed technological progress and embraced the aesthetic

possibilities of new materials such as cast iron. Others deplored the shoddiness

of mass-produced machine-made goods and aimed to elevate the decorative

arts to the level of fine art by applying the highest standards of craftsmanship

and design to everyday objects. Art Nouveau designers also believed that all the

arts should work in harmony to create a "total work of art,"

or Gesamtkunstwerk: buildings, furniture, textiles, clothes, and jewelry all

conformed to the principles of Art Nouveau.

1901 HOTEL VAN ETVELDE

Horta found it the best expression to his ideas. His skill is

demonstrated in his ability to slip his domestic designs into narrow

constricted sites. The interiors become of great importance as

centres of light, which permeates through the filigree domes and

skylights—usually in the centre of the building. The Hotel Van Etvelde

is a remarkable example of the way he handled the situation and

used it to highlight the imposing staircase, which leads up to the first-

floor reception rooms."

HOTEL VAN ETVELDE - ELEVATION

Recessed ground floor with the first and second

floors resting on iron consoles

The facade has bays with arched windows

and exposed metalwork.

Iron Consoles

Gate Detail Front Door

Central hall Door Handle Detail

CASA MILA

Architect Antoni Gaudi

Location Barcelona, Spain map

Date 1905 to 1910

Building Type multifamily housing

Construction System masonry and concrete

Climate Mediterranean

Context urban

Style Art Nouveau

The wavy facade, with its large pores, reminds one also of an undulating beach of fine

sand, formed, for example, by a receding dune.

The honeycombs made by industrious bees might also spring to the mind of the observer

viewing the snake-like ups-and-downs that run through the whole building.

CASA MILA

The building does not have any straight lines.

The most astonishing part is the roof with an almost lunar appearance and dream like

landscape.

The building can be considered more of a sculpture than a regular building. Critics remark

on its detachment from usefulness, but others consider it to be art. The Barcelonese of the

time considered it ugly, hence the "quarry" nickname, but today it is a landmark of

Barcelona.

Most people consider it magnificent and overwhelming -- some say it is like waves of

lava or a sand-dune. This building seems to break our understanding of conventional

architecture

Casa Mila Rooftop in Spring Casa Mila Central Atrium

The most famous feature of Casa Mila is the roof and the sculptured

chimneys. The chimneys have the look of helmeted Greek warriors or the

imperial guards in the Star Wars movies.

There are also several tiled and stuccoed sculptured forms that house the

stairwells, giving the roof a playful feel that the rest of the building lacks.

Details of the front entrance

Catenary arches under the

terrace of Casa Mila.Balconies wrought-iron

Biblography

http://www.vub.ac.be/ARCH/ae-lab/publications/SAHC_full_paper_D26_Quentin_Collette(Belgium).pdf

http://www.caans-acaen.ca/Journal/issues_online/Issue_VI_ii_1985/Tsihlias.pdf

http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/BE_en/content/2791/victor-horta-and-brussels.do

http://www.hortamuseum.be/en/horta-en/biography

George Kohlmeir, House of Glass

http://www.monarchie.be/palace-and-heritage/greenhouses-laeken

http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2011/03/01/the-royal-greenhouses-of-laeken/