Hector Guimard, Victor Horta, and Henry Van der Velde On Art Nouveau

During the 1890's, the Art Nouveau movement developed in response to the English Arts and Crafts movement. Inspired in large part to the advancement in wrought iron technology, and also styles from Japan, the Middle Ages, and Rococo, Art Nouveau was the outcome of the transformation in the industrial arts. Prior to this movement, the role of iron had been the main topic of debate among architects of every style. Not surprisingly, Viollett-Le-Duc is partly held responsible for the explosion of this new style due to his expressive use of iron as an architectural medium. In regards to Guimard, Horta, and Van der Velde, the transpiration of a style such as Art Nouveau was a milestone, seen in the pure form of opportunity. They were each heavily influenced by this movement, adapting it along with their own stylistic approach to design.

Nouveau style poster

Victor Horta can easily be seen as one of the leading architects and designers of Art Nouveau. Inspiring artists all over Europe at the time, his style influenced many avant-garde group artists, particularly in Belgium. At the turn of the twentieth century, Horta began designing various houses in Brussels,one of note was the Hotel Tassel, one of his more early works of art, but none the less inspiring. He was also very influential in the rise of the Belgian Art Style, alongside fellow architect Henry Van der Velde who we will talk more about later. The style of Horta is very linear, yet has a swirling, fluid quality, derived from the stems of plants found in nature. Throughout his projects, every material, ornament, and surface is carefully assembled together in highly detailed and poetic unity. The houses he designed are especially significant examples of this observation. The architecture of the forms is impressive, yes, but it is within these walls where we find the organic forms of the Belgium Art Style nestled in the actuality of an interior architecture. Rooms are shaped irregularly, opening into one another, an iron staircase echoing the curving motif of a mosaic tiled floor. This new establishment of an architecture focusing on the design of whole interiors, combining small interior pieces into the overall feeling, creating complete architecture as a whole. 

Hotel Tassel staircase and ornamentation

Hector Guimard studied decorative arts in Paris, and was inspired by new theories of architecture. He was particularly inspired by the radical ideas of Viollett-Le-Duc and also by the flowing architecture of the previous mentioned Victor Horta. These idols had a great influence on his designs, and inspired him to produce exceptional works of avant-garde. In fact, it was after visiting Victor Horta's Hotel Tassel in Brussels that he sought to re-evaluate his design approach, deeming that furniture and interior decor of a house were a necessity to create a total body of work. One of his most famous contributions is the station entrances to the Paris subway "Le Metropolitain", a standing expression to the new artistic movement. The work of Guimard is very decorative, and shares many of the characteristics of Victor Horta's work: fluid and unusual lines, with vibrant curves. Guimard also uses shapes underlined by light, and plays with the contrast of different materials such as wood, iron, and stone. This floral and organic style most represents the Art Nouveau style of France, and is known today as the "Guimard Style".

Entrance to Paris Metro

Along with Victor Horta, Henry Van der Velde was very influential in the rise of the Belgian Art Nouveau Style. He first trained as a painter, strudied architecture and applied arts later. Known particularly for his furniture, he presented his furniture works in a gallery known as "L'Art Nouveau" in Paris, where he became an international sensation. Van der Velde was a member of the avant-garde group known as "Les Vingt" and became familiar with the English Arts and Crafts Movement, paying special attention to the likes of William Morris. Henry was considered a forerunner and father of modernism and functionalism during the Art Nouveau movement, as he delivered a contemporary style of architecture, furniture design, and crafts. He was known as the first Art Nouveau artist to work in an abstract style, developing the concept of the union of form and function. He has designed a wide range of furniture and crast items, but one of his major architectural works is the Van de Velde House in Brussels.

Van de Velde House

A comparison of Semper, Ruskin, and Viollett-Le-Duc

All three of these architects have contributed much to the development of the current age in modern architecture. Each of these men had a similar thirst for knowledge and furthering the advancement of architecture with each and every one of their contributions, yet all of them had their individual beliefs, influences, styles, and views on how architecture and design should be implemented, carried out, and built. 

First, I want to look at Ruskin and Viollett-Le-Duc. Both of these men were very fervent devotees to the Gothic, more specifically High Gothic era of architecture. They were each also enthusiasts of the use of stone. Both Ruskin and Viollett-Le-Duc shared a similar view on how materials should be used. In Ruskin's Seven Lamps, he states "the painting of surfaces to represent some other material, as in the marbling of wood..." Viollett-Le-Duc was also known to share similar feelings, claiming that if one were using the material of iron, then it should be used as such and never hidden behind or inside a wall. Duc was a known advocate of using iron everywhere he could, even in ornamentation. Having said that, this is where the similarities end. In Pevsner's book, he quotes Ruskin saying that he hated "the use of cast or machine-made ornaments of any kind." Here we see the first of many differences in these great architects of their time: Ruskin, who was completely against the machine, and Viollett-Le-Duc, who embraced it.  

One difference really stands out at me above all the others outlined here. It is well-known that Ruskin was Protestant, as his Seven Lamps refers to seven morals or virtues which he considered vital to architecture and promoted a more "Protestant form of Gothic." Throughout his designs, there is a clear religious element behind his thought. Viollet-Le-Duc however, was...agnostic? "It is ridiculous to believe there is a God as it is impertinent to maintain that there is none." ~ Viollett-Le-Duc (Pevsner 16) How can one who does not believe (technically) in a God of any kind, design/restore these holy sites for the worship of one? Yet Le-Duc seems to not need any "divine" inspiration as he magnificently restores such cathedrals as the Vezelay. One possible answer, in fact the only one I have been able to decode, is that Le-Duc was a man of science, deriving inspiration not from above, but inside as he was a well-known study of anatomy and biology. Ironic, for these have been the left and right, black and white, astrological-dividing factors among people for centuries: for some there is God, for the rest, science.

Basilique a Vezelay

Another huge difference among these two is the issue of restoration. Restoration has always been on the tongues of architects, but in the mouths of Ruskin and Viollet-Le-Duc, the word leaves a completely different taste to each. Ruskin was very against restoration, he believed that ancient buildings should be preserved and no attempt should be made to erase the "history" that a building has accumulated in its decay. In contrast, enter Viollett-Le-Duc. "To restore a building is to recreate it in a complete form, indeed a form which might have never existed." ~ Viollett-Le-Duc (Dictionnaire raisonne' de l'architecture, 1866) Duc was a master at restoring buildings of all kinds, such as the Medieval Fortress of Carcassonne.

Carcassonne, completed in 1853

With regards to Semper, Semper's ideas on architecture were very much rooted in his influences, particularly the renaissance and neoclassical works he studied. He introduced sterotomic architecture, which is simply a system based on the relationships between load and supporting structure, instead of focusing on the continuity of volume as was the previous norm. A key concept of Semper's was style. He believed that the style of architecture was only true if its forms were influenced by only the most important of factors, to him meaning socio-political conditions. He also developed The Four Elements of Architecture: hearth, platform, roof and enclosure. 

Interior of Semper Opera

Semper had a very eccletic style, meaning he wasn't afraid to draw upon a variety of different architectural styles, quite often combining many of them into each one of his singular projects. Now although Ruskin and Le Duc might not have agreed with Semper on this, in fact Ruskin and Semper may have not gotten along at all, but there is one thing Semper shares with the likes of Le-Duc. Semper was a big advocate of using local materials and craftsman on his projects, something he and Viollett-Le-Duc have in common. Oddly enough, Le-Duc was also into the use of polychrome, the use different colors to invoke feelings and emotion, as you can see in evidence from the multi-colored spires of Carcassonne and the interior of the Nave of St. Chappelle. Semper is also noted in the use of polychrome, as he intentionally "paints with different colors, paints with different emotions."

One can be sure that although there are a couple things of which these three men hold in common, they are each independently great forerunners and models to the society that is architecture.today.

Semper Opera in Dresden

You found my blog!

Hello! If you are reading this then you are apparently somewhat interested in what I have to say, but let me just start off with a little about me and this course. My name is Jordan Crook and I am currently a 3rd year Architecture major here at Ball State. This blog is a part of the course ARCH 329 which focuses on the history of modern architecture, analyzing the influential contexts behind the development of the major movements and figures in architecture and design from the late nineteenth century. That said, feel free to stick around, look around, or simply sit and stare at this photo...he won't judge you.