Victor Horta was a Belgian architect who was a pioneer of the Art Nouveau style. He was born in 1861 in Ghent and studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Some of his most important works that helped establish Art Nouveau included Hotel Tassel in Brussels in 1893, which is considered one of the first examples of Art Nouveau architecture. He also designed Hotel Solvay and his own home, the Horta Museum, both in Brussels. Art Nouveau was characterized by its use of organic, curving lines and emphasis on natural materials like iron, glass and stone. Horta's works incorporated these features and helped popularize the new style across Europe in the late 19th century.

1. AR. VICTOR
HORTA.
(1861-1947)
ROHANKUMAR BAMROTIYA (010)
SAMRUDHI KULKARNI (044)
HITANSHU PADARIA (060)

2.  INTRODUCTION:-
• BORN & RAISED IN GHENT, IN THE FAMILY OF A SHOEMAKER
BIRTH
6 JAN. 1861
• EXPELLED FOR MISBEHAVIOUR AND AFTER THAT JOINED
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF
FINE ARTS IN GHENT.
1873
STUDY MUSICAL
THEROY
• WENT TO STUDY ARCHITECTURE AT ACADEMIE ROYAL DES
BEAUX-ARTS.
1880
DEATH OF
FATHER,RETURN TO
BRUSSELS
1881
ASSISTANT, FIRST
GLASS & IRON WORK
1884
WON THE FIRST PRIX
GODECHARLE
• TAKEN AS ASSISTANT BY HIS PROFESSOR ALPHONSE BALAT,
ARCHITECT TO LEOPOLD ll OF BELGIUM- TOGETHER DESIGNED
ROYAL GREENHOUSES OF LAEKEN(HORTA’S FIRST WORK TO
USE GLASS & IRON).
AWARDED FOR ARCHITECTURE (FOR HIS UNBUILT PROJECT FOR
PARLIAMENT) ASWELL AS THE GRAND PRIX ON LEAVING THE ROYAL
ACADEMY.

3. • 3 HOUSES THAT YEAR JOINED CENTRAL SOCIETY OF BELGIAN
ARCHITECTURE.
1885
STARTED INDIVIDUAL
PRACTICE
• HORTA WAS INSPIRED. COMMISIONED TO DESIGN A HOME FOR
PROFESSOR EMILE TASSEL, HE TRANSFUSED THE RECENT INFLUENCES
INTO HOTEL TASSEL, COMPLETED IN 1893.
1892
ART NOUVEAU
EXHIBITION
• UNABLE TO RETURN DUE TO THE WAR, WENT TO THE US, GAVE
LECTURES AT CORNELL, HARVARD, MIT, WELLESLEY COLLEGE AND YALE
& IN 1917 BECAME PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT GEORGE
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, & CHARLES ELIOT NORTON MEMORIAL
LECTURER.
1915
LEFT FOR LONDON
1932
BARON
1947
DEATH
• IN RECOGNITION OF HIS WORK, HORTA WAS AWARDED THE TITLE OF
BARON (A POWERFUL PERSON IN SPECIFIED FIELD) BY ALBERT l OF
BELGIUM IN 1932.
• DIED WHILE WORKING ON HIS LAST PROJEST. BRUSSELS
CENTRAL RAILWAYS STATION ANOTHER SHIFT-TO
MODERNISM.
• HIS COLLEAGUES LED BY MAXIME BRUNFAUT COMPLETED HIS
PLANS.• THE USE OF IRON, FOR INSTANCE, AS A MATERIAL FOR BOTH CONSTRUCTION AND
DECORATION, IS VICTOR’S UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION.

4. WHAT IS ART NOUVEAU?
• UNTIL THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, THE ARCHITECTURE WAS BASED ON HISTORICISM, HEAVILY
INFLUENCED BY ANCIENT CLASSICAL TRADITIONS.
• ART NOUVEAU IS CHARACTERIZED BY ITS USE OF A LONG, SINUOUS(HAVING MANY CURVES &
TURNS), ORGANIC LINE & WAS EMPLOYED MOST OFTEN IN ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN,
JEWELRY & GLASS DESIGN, POSTERS, & ILLUSTRATION.
• IT WAS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO CREATE A NEW STYLE, FREE OF THE IMITATIVE HISTORICISM
THAT DOMINATED MUCH OF 19TH CENTURY ART AND DESIGN.
• MATERIAL USED DURING THE ART NOUVEAU:
 CAST IRON: ONE OF THE MAIN PRODUCT OF THE 1ST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
 CERAMICS
 GLASS
 REINFORCED CONCRETE
 ELECTRICAL LIGHTS
 LIFT ELEVATORS

5. EXAMPLES OF THE ART NOUVEAU :-

6. IMPORTANT WORKS

7. HOTEL TASSEL (BRUSSEL)
• THIS BUILDING HAS SINCE BEEN RECOGNIZED AS THE FIRST
APPEARANCE OF THE ART NOUVEAU IN ARCHITECTURE.
• ORNATE & ELABORATE DESIGNS AND NATURAL LIGHTING
WERE CONCEALED BEHIND A STONE FAÇADE TO HARMONIZE
THE BUILDING WITH THE MORE RIGID HOUSES NEXT DOOR.
• IT INCORPORATED INTERIOR IRON STRUCTURE WITH
CURVILINEAR BOTANICAL FORMS, LATER DESCRIBED AS
“BIOMORPHIC WHIPLASH”.
• THE STONE EXTERIOR INCLUDES THE CONSOLES, MOULDINGS
AND COLUMNS OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE.
• BUT THE COLUMNS ARE OF IRON NOT STONE .
• THE BUILDING HAD A SMOOTH, FUILD FAÇADE, UNLIKE THR
CAREFULLY ARTICULATED PLANES OF TRUE CLASSICAL
BUILDING.

8. HOTEL SOLVAY(BRUSSEL)
• IN THIS PROJECT HORTA DESIGNED EVERY SINGLE DETAIL LIKE
FURNITURE,CARPETS, LIGHT FITTINGS, TABLEWARE & EVEN
THE DOOR BELL.
• HE USED EXPENSIVE MATERIALS SUCH AS MARBLE, ONYX,
BRONZE, TROPIC WOODS ETC.
• THE STYLISTIC REVOLUTION REPRESENTED BY THESE WORKS
IS CHARACTERISED BT THEIR OPEN PLAN, THE DIFFUSION OF
LIGHT, AND THE BRILLIANT JOINING OF THE CURVED LINES
OF DECORATION WITH THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING.
• IN 1957 THE BUILDING BECAME THE SEAT OF A FASHION
HOUSE; IN 1980 THE OWNERS STARTED THE RESTORATION
OF THE BUILDING, INCLUDING THE RESTITUTION OF GLASS
ROOF OF MAIN STAIRCASE, COOLING OF THE INTERIOR
DECORATION AND RESTORING THE FACADE.

9. HORTA MUSEUM
• THE HORTA MUSEUM IS LOCATED IN THE PRIVATE HOUSE
AND STUDIO OF VICTOR HORTA.
• BUILT BETWEEN 1898 &1901, IT IS TYPICAL OF ART
NOUVEAU AT ITS HEIGHT.
• THIS IS NOT A MUSEUM IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE: A
BUILDING WHERE THE OBJECTS EXPOSED DRAW ALL THE
ATTENTION. HERE IT IS THE REVERSE: THE BUILDING ITSELF
IS THE MUSEUM.
• THE INTERIOR DECORATION HAS LARGELY BEEN RETAINED,
THE MOSAICS, STAINED GLASS, AND WALL DECORATIONS
FORMING A HARMONIOUS 7 ELEGANT WHOLE, DOWN TO
THE LAST DETAIL.
• THE MUSEUM ALSO CONTAINS A COLLECTION OF
FURNITURE DRAWN BY VICTOR HORTA AND TYPICAL OF
ART NOUVEAU AT ITS BEST.

10. “IF IT IS CORRECT THAT LOGIC IS THE BASIS OF A CREATOR’S SLIGHTEST
REASONING, I BELIEVE THAT IT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO INTERFERE
WITH ONE’S DREAMS OF ‘CHARM’, THAT DELICATE SUPERFLUOUS ENTITY
WHICH OFTEN ADDS TO HARSH NECESSITY.”