Modern Philosophies and

Movements in Architectural Design

PRELIMINARY TERM
ARCH124 – Theory of Architecture 2
 ART NOUVEAU
1890-1910

• International style of art, architecture and applied art,

especially the decorative arts (Sterner, 1982).

• It was inspired by natural forms and

structures, particularly the curved lines of
plants and flowers. (Silverman, 1992).
 ART NOUVEAU
1890-1910
• English uses the French name Art Nouveau ("new art"). The style is
related to, but not identical with, styles that emerged in many
countries in Europe at about the same time: in Austria it is known as
Secessionsstil after Wiener Secession, in Spanish Modernismo, in
Catalan Modernisme, in Czech Secese, in Danish Skønvirke or
Jugendstil, in German Jugendstil, Art nouveau or Reformstil, in
Hungarian Szecesszió, in Italian L'Art Nouveau, Stile floreale or Stile
Liberty, in Norwegian Jugendstil, in Polish Secesja, in Slovak
Secesia, in Russian Модерн (Modern), and Swedish Jugend. –
Silverman, 1992
 ART NOUVEAU
1890-1910

• Art Nouveau is considered a "total" art style,

embracing architecture, graphic art, interior
design, and most of the decorative arts including
jewellery, furniture, textiles, household silver and
other utensils, and lighting, as well as the fine arts.
 ART NOUVEAU
1890-1910
• According to the philosophy of the style, art should be a way of life.

“…it was possible to live in an art nouveau-

inspired house with art nouveau furniture,
silverware, fabrics, ceramics including
tableware, jewellery, cigarette cases, etc. Artists
desired to combine the fine arts and applied arts,
even for utilitarian objects.”
Sterner, 1982
 ART NOUVEAU
1890-1910
• The new art movement had its roots in Britain, in the floral designs of
William Morris, and in the Arts and Crafts movement founded by the
pupils of Morris. Early prototypes of the style include the Red House of
Morris (1859), and the lavish Peacock Room by James Abbott McNeill
Whistler. The new movement was also strongly influenced by the Pre-
Raphaelite painters, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-
Jones, and especially by British graphic artists of the 1880s, including
Selwyn Image, Heywood Sumner, Walter Crane, Alfred Gilbert, and
especially Aubrey Beardsley. Bouillon, Jean-Paul, Journal de l'Art nouveau (1985), p. 6
 ART NOUVEAU

• Red House is a significant Arts and Crafts

building located in the town of Bexleyheath
in Southeast London, England. Co-designed
in 1859 by the architect Philip Webb and
the designer William Morris, it was created
to serve as a family home for the latter, with
construction being completed in 1860. It is
recognized as one of the most important
examples of nineteenth-century British
architecture still extant.

Bouillon, Jean-Paul, Journal de l'Art nouveau

Bloemenwerf
house in
Brussels, by
Henry Van de
Velde (1895)
Main entrance to
the Paris 1900
Exposition
universelle
The Villa
Majorelle in
Nancy by Henri
Sauvage (1901–
02)
House of architect
Paul Hankar in
Brussels (1893)

Gateway of the Castel Béranger by Hector Guimard (1895–98)

The jewellry shop of Georges Fouquet at Le Train bleu (restaurant) at the
6 rue Royale, Paris, designed by Alphonse Gare de Lyon (1900)
Mucha, now in the Carnavalet Museum

Doorway of the Lavirotte

Building by Jules
Lavirotte, 29 avenue
Rapp, Paris (1901)