Victor Horta’s Autrique House was the first Art Nouveau building in Brussels.
As well as possessing one of the most beautiful medieval squares in the world, Brussels is also famous for its peerless 19th- and early 20th-century architecture. Here’s where to find Art Nouveau and Art Deco in Brussels.
Brussels is the city of Art Nouveau, with all its curved lines and natural motifs. It was the birthplace of the Art Nouveau master craftsmen Paul Hankar and Victor Horta, whose work can be all over the city. Hankar designed the ornamental Ciamberlani House (now privately owned but open by appointment) in 1897, while Horta worked on the Tassel House (1893), the Hôtel Solvay (1895) and the Maison du Peuple (1899). The Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR) is another of his masterpieces and Horta even has a metro station named after him, where his designs are realized in the wrought-iron railings and typically Art Nouveau entrance gates. He also had a hand in the design of the Art Nouveau squares of Ambiorix and Marguerite in the European District; a short walk from Schuman or Maelbeek metro stations, these are the only remaining vestiges of a once-wealthy 19th-century residential neighborhood.
Two of the city’s most popular visitor attractions are also the work of Horta; the Centre Belge de la Bande-Dessinée (Belgian Center for Comic-Strip Art) is housed in a restored Art Nouveau department store designed by him in 1903, and the Musée Horta in the suburb of Saint-Gilles was his home and studio. Long lines form daily outside the museum, where the wooden doors, stained glass, swirling mosaic floors, every piece of furniture and the monumental and intricate wrought-iron central staircase are all testament to Horta’s creative genius, with wavy, fluid lines reminiscent of Anton Gaudí.
With the rise of industrialization across Europe came the advent of Art Deco, a move away from natural lines and designs to bold geometric shapes, lavish ornamentation and angular lines. Art Deco style can be seen at the Villa Empain in avenue Franklin Roosevelt and in the landmark, suburban church of Koekelburg (Basilica of the Sacred Heart). The best example of the genre in Brussels is the Musée David et Alice van Buuren, located in the smart suburb of Uccle; it was the brainchild of a wealthy banker who fell in love with the style and commissioned a classically Art Deco house dating from 1928. This he filled with Deco treasures, from wooden paneling to light fittings and carpets. There are occasional sculpture exhibitions in the gardens surrounding the house.
-Contributed by Sasha Heseltine
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