Art Nouveau was a dramatic style that flourished in Europe in the 1890s. It was unlike anything seen before as history was replaced by nature. Art Nouveau designs derived from organic forms and used the theoretical background of plants and sinuous natural objects to create buildings. Honesty in the use of materials was an important factor of the style as materials were displayed in their natural forms. This resolved many previous construction constraints and allowed the interior spaces to open up allowing rooms to merge, also allowing glass to develop as a separate architectural medium as exposed steel was able to extend and support the walls; this gave a new lightness to the spaces. Asymmetry was another essential feature, both regarding the overall mass of the building and purely the details of walls and doors. The ornamental facade of a building was treated more like a decorative entity, making it stand out vividly from the surrounding street facades. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Victor Horta was a prominent Belgian Art Nouveau architect who created buildings that rejected earlier historic styles. From 1892 he designed numerous public and private buildings throughout Brussels in the Art Nouveau style, but sadly many have been destroyed. Horta's design style is consistent throughout his buildings with clear exterior facades except for minor details, contrasting with powerful flamboyant ornamental interior spaces. The use of soft lines and curved shapes in the interior creates a harmonious atmosphere. His works integrated neo-Gothic and neo-Rococo elements. Victor Horta was inspired by the French architectural theorist Viollet-le-Duc, who encouraged the visible use of iron and skeletal forms to create arches and corbels. Viollet agreed with the abandonment of tradition for the development of new forms of artistic expression. Horta chose to expose the metal structure in his structures rather than hide it, introducing iron as a structural, visual and decorative addition to a facade. As a result it allowed natural light to be a much more dramatic feature, as the walls were supported by steel resulting in the use of larger glass windows. The decision to display the materials created the opportunity to open up the interior spaces. This is demonstrated beautifully in the Maison Du Peuple (1897-99), Horta's masterpiece for the headquarters of the Belgian Socialist Party, consisting of offices, meeting rooms, cafés and a concert hall capable of seating 1500 people. An overtly Art Nouveau interior contrasted with a much simpler exterior. The auditorium boasts an innovative use of the iron and steel skeleton; it is structural and carries side galleries, whilst also being decoratively expressive as it curves to form balustrades and intricate patterns. La Maison du Peuple had the first facade in Belgium built entirely of iron and glass. Victor Horta aspired to build a place that was not a palace but rather a home where air and light were the luxury so long excluded from workers' barracks. The building achieves these goals with ease, as it makes excellent use of natural light and displays airiness and spaciousness. The asymmetrical shape of the building divided the public spaces of the concert hall and the bar from the more private ones of the conference rooms. The Tassel House (1892-93) is a fine example of Art Nouveau architecture and the first house in which Horta applied his theories. The interior follows the Art Nouveau decorative style while the exterior is more conventional. The façade, dominated by windows,it emphasizes the iron structure rather than hiding it and internally it is equally exuberant. The complex columns are slender cast iron decorative vertical supports that resemble the shape of a plant as they sprout from the floor and intertwine with the ceiling decoration. They are very similar to those of Mackmurdos. Horta supported Mackmurdo's Art Nouveau views as he used some of his wallpaper designs in some of his other buildings. The painted decoration conforms to the organic shape of the curvature and is repeated in elaborate mosaic patterns on the floor. There is a liberal mix of materials throughout the building, including stone, steel, glass, marble and wood. Each material used has been creatively integrated into the building to be displayed in its best quality. The organization of Horta's interior space was innovative. He deviated from traditional endless corridors and instead created free-flowing asymmetrical interior spaces with rooms that varied in shape and size. The rooms were flooded with natural light. It was unlike anything seen before. Hortas' stairs were always out of the ordinary. The wrought iron work reflected the curved shape of the surrounding interior elements. The generous proportion of space allocated made the staircase a far more dominant feature than anything previously seen. Horta successfully illustrates many of the Art Nouveau elements in his buildings. Rue Americaine, otherwise known as Casa Horta (1898) and Hotel Solvay (1895-1900) are two Horta creations that feature completely asymmetrical facades. In these later projects Horta was more confident in his design strategy: they proudly display the iron construction as a decorative element. There is a constant creative impulse even in the smallest detail. Art Nouveau architects had to design every element, from the jamb to the door jamb, not to mention all the furniture and accessories. Hortas' buildings can echo the arts and crafts movement, as he designs every element down to the last detail in his own unique style, including furniture and accessories. He understands good craftsmanship. Before completing a project he modeled all the architectural details in clay to visualize the result. The arts and crafts movement was also about the truth of materials. Typically Horta used a range of materials, such as steel, wood, marble and instead of hiding them within the wall structure, he exposed them to show their natural form. The lighting fixtures in the Solvay Hotel project demonstrate Horta's ability to make individual elements in a room are a most striking feature. They are designed to give the appearance of flowing plants as they climb and snake up walls, ceilings and stairs. They raise and lower where necessary to spread light into key areas of rooms and illuminate furniture or fireplaces. In summary, Art Nouveau depended on ornament. By 1910, Art Nouveau was generally abandoned, it was unique buildings to suit an individual, aimed at the wealthy upper classes and was unable to meet the demand for simple designs suitable for mass production. Modernism, however, retained some of the same characteristics. Looking at the works of the early modernist architects, the influence that the Art Nouveau style and the work of Victor Horta had on them becomes evident. Hector Guimard designed the Paris Metro station entrances in 1905. There is a clear progression from the Art Nouveau period; the ornamental structures demonstrate organic strength in sinuous green cast iron. Each entrance is distinctive and different from the next. Otto Wagner was one of the first modernist architects who did not try to hide the elements.