Victor Horta
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Using modern materials of the time: iron, steel, and glass, he “employed the floral ornamentation of Art Nouveau as both a surface decoration and a constructive element” that consists of his famous whimsical lines, curvaceous forms, and relatively overly embellished designs.1 Cantilevered forms are created to generate lively, well-lit, large interiors that house the furniture, also designed by him, to keep a cohesive appearance. These are spaces that are not set on the ground, but convincingly look as though they could have naturally grown out of the ground. These are organic forms in nature, without a desired destination or direction, just naturally growing and letting nature guide their course. The period in Victor Hortas life dedicated to Art Nouveau is but deliberate or intentional, however in its chaos it has a sense of grace and fluid beauty.
From the time he was born in Ghent on January 6, 1861, to the time he died at the ripe age of 86, on September 9, 1947, Victor Horta was an artist in every sense of the word. Horta was born to a working class family with Victor-Pierre Horta, a shoemaker, as his father and Henriette Coppieters as his mother. In Ghent he was determined to follow his early musical talent, but this premature dream was quickly crushed when he was “dismissed from the Ghent conservatory.”2 Following this unforeseen disappointment, he quickly recovered and pursued his passion of the arts. Horta enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied textiles, drawing, and architecture for three years before going to Paris.
It was Paris that awakened his creative talent and where Horta acquired great enthusiasm and a flair for architecture. Though he only intended to stay in Paris for a few weeks, he ended up staying for two years. He started working in Montmarte, for architect and decorator, Jules Debuysson. Many artists, innovative building designs, and literary figures influenced Horta. Among those who influenced him were the artists Constatin Meuner and Loius Tiffany whose work he was able to admire at the Exposition Universelle, and who later contributed to his designs, whether it was solely by inspiration or collaboration. He wrote of his experience: “My stay in Paris, my walks, visits to monuments and museums, all opened wide the Ðdoors to my artistic heart. No school could have taught me better the enthusiasm for architecture which stayed with me forever.” 3 Unfortunately, as a result of his fathers death, Horta was forced to return to Belgium in 1880.
Shortly after the death of his father, Horta married Pauline Heyse and moved to Brussels, which was a “thriving industrial and colonial state” at the time. 4 he found much inspiration in the facelift that this old city had undergone in order to become a modern Brussels. Still young in his career Horta had yet to venture out into his own personal style, so in 1880 he enrolled at the Academie des Beaux-Arts, where teachings were in large part Neoclassical to keep with the conservative image of the Brussels government. Hortas ease of use of the simple historic forms that made up the Neoclassical style earned him the Prix Godecharle Award in 1884 for a parliament building. It isnt until 1892 that Hortas style begins to take a more personalized turn towards his own tailored style, and the Edicule Lambeaux is the project that leads the way into his Art Nouveau.
The Edicule Lambeaux serves as an introduction to Hortas free form Art Nouveau style. In this building Horta concentrates on the characteristics that contribute to Art Nouveau such as the details of the materials and the search for a personalized language but “the Edicule Lambeaux clearly belongs to the body of his Neoclassical projects both in its conception and articulation.” 5 This project bridged a path from Neoclassical to the more complex and detailed Art Nouveau. However, one Alphonse Balat who pushed him to use his original and inventive designs also influenced him.
Alphonse Balat was a Neoclassical architect to King Leopald II. In 1881 Horta took a job with Balat, while he was still in school, and it was from him that he acquired the training and vision to venture in to the world with the ideas of using “new materials, materials which became synonymous with the vision of modernity” 6. So it was while working with Balat that Horta was able to explore and find what it was he wanted his architecture to express. It was no longer about following certain guidelines or rules set for the Classical times, now “Hortas intention was to create a highly personal line which could neither be reconstructed geometrically nor copied, a line which revealed the personal creativity of Horta alone.”7
It was Hortas great social connections that realized his many opportunities to design for the avant-garde. Through acquaintances of families such as Charbo, Devreese, and Tassel among many others came the probability to design for a population that wanted to get away from the ordinary. With this came his next project, the Maison Autrique, in which he had the occasion to express his whiplash, arabesque, and sensual lines that quickly made his design popular among this high-class society. As the first use of Hortas original ideas for iron columns on a residential faħade, detailed ground floor layout, and raised ground floor for basement room, it was very successful. With this project came what is considered one of, if not, his greatest contribution to Art Nouveau.
The commission for the Hotel Tassel, or Tassel Hotel, can be identified as an attempt to find a personal language on Hortas part, and where he freely uses his arabesque lines. Horta was aware that this would be a tremendous undertaking, but he was inspired and energized at the possibility of creating a fresh layout. The owners, Emile Tassel and his wife, had a fondness for entertaining. It was Hortas goal to make the front entry incredibly appealing and inviting for the Tassels many guests. The floor of the entry is covered with small mosaic tiles that are used to create continual curvatures. These curves are replicated through stenciling on the wall. Earth tones are used for the color palate, which lends itself to the organic feeling of the home. In an attempt to let in as much natural light as possible, the architect designed the space to be extremely open, even the doors have glass inserts with unique intricate detailing. Wonderful stained glass atriums were also created, which gives the ceiling an endless feeling and relates the interior spaces to exterior elements. Horta did not leave any rooms or spaces unattended, even the stairwell received an ample amount of attention. “A staircase should be neither a place of icy pomp and ceremony, nor a gloomy