Horta The ultimate art nouveau architect

VICTOR HORTA (1861-1947) was a pioneer of the new architecture that arose around 1900 in reaction to the previous centuries’ monumental classicism. Using contemporary materials like glass and metal, filling buildings with air and light, and cultivating asymmetry, Horta devised a formal vocabulary all his own. He created beautiful, comfortable houses with elegantly refined lighting. This book traces Horta’s entire career, from his cautious early work to the restrained geometric style of the last projects, by way of the exuberance of line his name is most closely associated with. In the pavilion he designed for Jef Lambeaux’s Human Passions (1889-1906,Cinquanaire Park, Brussels), the young architect began to move away from classical forms. His fundamental themes found their most accomplished expression in the Tassel house (1893), heralding the advent of Art Nouveau. Illustrated with the latest photos by Christine Bastin & Jacques Evrard, this new book on Victor Horta follows the step-by-step development of an architect who had a keen sense of not only form and space but also colour. A fine tribute to a great architect.