Art Nouveau styleBy Kristina Pavlovska

T-2-10

Art nouveau (c.1880 to 1910)

• An international style of decoration and architecture of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, characterized particularly by the depiction of leaves and flowers in flowing, sinuous lines.

Additional characteristics:

• Organic and dynamic forms• Curving design• Writhing plant forms• Strict avoidance of historical traits

Developed principally in France and Belgium.

Leading practitioners:

• Britain- the architecture of Rennie Mackintosh• France - Guimard’s famous glass and iron

Metro designs; the glassware of Lalique (1860-1945).

• Spain - Gaudi in Barcelona.• Vienna - Gustav Klimt• US- Louis Comfort Tiffany; Louis Sullivan.

The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the floral designs of William Morris, and in the Arts and Crafts movement founded by the pupils of Morris.

Early prototypes of the style include the Red House of Morris (1859), and the lavish Peacock Room by James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

In France, the style combined several different tendencies.

In architecture, it was influenced by the architectural theorist and historian Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

Art Nouveau buildings have many of these features:

• Asymmetrical shapes• Extensive use of arches and curved forms• Curved glass• Curving, plant-like embellishments• Mosaics • Stained glass• Japanese motifs

Understanding Art Nouveau Architecture through Gaudi’s Work

One of the architects commonly related to the movement is Antoni Gaudi. Nature gave him the clues, and then he designed his own riddles. Gaudi referenced trees, leaves, and even the human skeleton through his projects.

Considering the time in which Gaudi lived, you can imagine how his projects were practically forcing technology to advance, which is probably one of the most important roles of an architect.

A classic example is Gaudi’s Casa Mila (1905-1907) showing how different parts appear organically tied to

the base plan.

• Curved lines and arches dominated the exterior of Art Nouveau architecture. The example is Casa Batlo in Barcelona, Spain, which was redesigned by Antoni Gaudi between 1905 and 1907 in the Art Nouveau style.

• Another example of Art Nouveau architecture is the Hotel Guimard, built by Hector Guimard in 1912 in Paris,France.

• The windows of the Hotel Guimard are shielded by arches with root-like designs.

• The entryway to the house has an arch with asymmetrical, floral designs.

• One of the supreme qualities of the Art Nouveau architecture is the usage of structure theory to expose the construction elements of a building. Especially iron becomes a visible element of the facade, most often in a decorative function.

• Glass is mainly used in combination with iron. The glass wall also enjoyed a great independent development in the art nouveau period. Glass and iron staircases like the one created by Horta for the Maison du Peuple, garnered very high praise.Maison du Peuple, Brussels,

1896-1899

Louis Sullivan – Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York, 1896

• The Art Nouveau designers selected and modernized some of the abstract elements of the Rococo style, such as shell and flame textures and they also advocated the use of very stylized organic forms as a source of inspiration in their artworks. Thus, many elements came in the shape of grass, insects, seaweed and the like.

Black Sea Art Nouveau

Villa I, by Otto Wagner in Vienna, Austria, 1886-1888

Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary, designed by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos,

1893-1896

Secession Building, an exhibition hall by Joseph Maria Olbrich in Vienna, Austria, 1897-1898

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