inside art nouveau

In his memoirs, Horta recalled the enthusiasm that he felt at the time: “I felt that with him my imagination could run free; I presented him with the boldest plans that I had produced so far”.

As you can see, this enormous mansion presents three different façades, which attest to the building’s different phases of construction. The main house (no. 4) was built in 1895 on a plot nine metres wide. It was extended at the corner in 1899, in order to add an office and a billiard room. Two years later, Horta built a second extension to the right of the main building to enlarge the reception rooms.
The main building presents a bold façade with an industrial aesthetic: the design of the enormous oriel window resembles a large screen extended over the front of the façade. It proudly displays its riveted girders and its decoration of fluid lines in the mosaic panels of the aprons.
The side façades are more restrained and of French white stone, a material that enabled the architect to carve a variety of sensual and organic lines there.

Horta came up with plans that were totally new and innovative. Very soon after the entrance hall you will enter the winter garden. This is topped with a remarkable cupola of coloured stained glass, featuring stylised flowering stems and supported by small, elegant columns.
The whole house appears to revolve around this winter garden. At the rear, the dining room still has its embossed tapestry with ochre, green and brown tones, featuring stylised orchids and elephants (references to the Congo, perhaps?)
At the front, another lounge contains an onyx stone plinth course and a Lyon silk tapestry with golden threads.

This house can be visited during specific events. If you get the opportunity, do not miss this experience.