INTRODUCTION

Victor, Baron Horta was a Belgian Architect and designer.

John Julius Norwich described him as "undoubtedly the key
European Art Nouveau architect." Indeed, Horta is one of the
most important names in Art Nouveau architecture.
He also contributed greatly in the art and craft movement in
architecture which advocated truth to materials and
traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often
medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. The French
architect Hector Guimard was deeply influenced by Horta
and further spread the "whiplash" style in France and abroad.
In rejecting historical styles and embracing new materials,
Horta laid the foundations for modern architecture.
In 1932 King Albert I of Belgium conferred on Horta the title
of Baron for his services to architecture. Four of the buildings
he designed have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
Hotel Tassel, designed and built for
Prof. Émile Tassel in 1892 - 1893.
Hôtel Solvay, designed and built 1895 -
1900.
Hôtel van Eetvelde, designed and built
1895 - 1898.
Maison and Atelier Horta, designed in
1898, now the Horta Museum,
dedicated to his work.
IMAGES SHOWING FEATURES OF THE ART NOUVEAU
ARCHITECTURE:ITS ARTISTIST STYLES.
LIFE HISTORY AND CAREER
1861
Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium, on 6 January 1861.

1873
Enrolled in the school of architecture at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Ghent.
Continued to attend school at the Athénée Royal in the same city from 1874 to 1877.

1878
Left for Paris, where he entered the studio of the interior designer Jules Debuysson.
"My stay in Paris, walking the city streets, visiting the monuments and museums threw
wide open the windows of my artistic soul. No school could have done more to tire me
with an enthusiasm for architecture than viewing and deciphering those monuments -
an enthusiasm that has never left me." (Mémoires, p.8)

1880
13 June: death of Horta's father. The young Horta returns to Belgium.

1881
His first marriage and the move to Brussels, where he enrolled at the Académie Royale
des Beaux-Arts. Began training under Balat (Leopold II 's favourite architect, the
designer of, among other things, the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in the Rue de la
Régence in Brussels and the royal greenhouses in Laeken).
VICTOR IN HIS EARLY VICTOR WORKING IN HIS
50’S. OFFICE.

VICTOR in 1938,
BEFORE WORLD WAR
PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN
WHICH HE PLACED ON THE
WALL OF HIS PRIVATE
OFFICE.
 CHAIR CLOCK STAND STAIR RAILINGS

STAIRWAYS
COURT YARD DOORS AND BALCONYS
FACADES DOOR HANDLE

Brahms' gravestone on the

Zentralfriedhof designed by
Horta.

WALKS DECORATED CAPITAL OF

A COLUMN.
1884
Winner of the Godecharle prize for architecture with his plans for a new parliament building.
1885
Designed three houses in the Twaalfkamerenstraat in Ghent.

1887
Winner of the triennial competition organised by the Brussels Académie des Beaux-Arts for
its former students with his project for a natural history museum building.
1888
Horta socialised widely and, in 1888, joined the freemasons as a member of the lodge Les
Amis Philanthropes of the Grand Orient of Belgium in Brussels. This ensured a stream of
clients when he returned to designing houses and shops from 1893.

1889
Visited the Great Exhibition in Paris (Eiffel Tower, Galerie des Machines). Thanks to Balat,
commissioned to design a pavilion to house Jef Lambeaux's sculpture "Les Passions
humaines" (Human Passions).

1890
Simone Horta born.
The Matyn house, 50 Rue de Bordeaux in SaintGilles, Brussels.

1892
Appointed professor in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, a
post he resigned in 1911.
Bank note of 2000 Belgian
Francs carrying Victor Horta’s
portrait and signature on the
right side of his face.
1893
The Autrique house, 286 Chaussée de Haecht in Schaerbeek, Brussels.
The Tassel house, 6 Rue Paul-Emile Janson in Brussels.

1894
Became president of the Société Centrale d'Architecture de Belgique.
The Frison house, 37 Rue Lebeau in Brussels.
The Solvay mansion, 224 Avenue Louise in Brussels.

1895
The Van Eetvelde mansion, 4 Avenue Palmerston in Brussels (extended in 1898-1901).
The 'Maison du Peuple', Place E. Vandervelde in Brussels (demolished in 1965-1966).
The kindergarten, 40 Rue Saint-Ghislain in Brussels.
The Deprez-Van de Velde mansion, 3 Avenue Palmerston in Brussels.

1898
House and studio, 23-25 Rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles (which became the Horta
museum in 1969).

1899
The Aubecq mansion, 520 Avenue Louise in Brussels (demolished in 1950).
The Carpentier house in Ronse.
1900
The 'A l'Innovation' store, Rue Neuve in Brussels (destroyed by fire in 1968).

1901
The Roger mansion 459 Avenue Louise in Brussels (completely transformed).
The Dubois house, 80 Avenue Brugmann in Forest, Brussels.
The Braecke house, 31 Rue de l'Abdication in Brussels.

1902
The Max Hallet mansion, 346 Avenue Louise in Brussels.

1903
The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai (completed in 1928).
The Anspach store, Rue Grétry in Brussels (since demolished).
The 'Grand Bazar Anspach' in Frankfurt-am-Main (since demolished).

1906
Horta divorced from his first wife.
The Waucquez store, 20 Rue des Sables in Brussels (Belgian Centre for Strip
Cartoons).
The Brugmann hospital in Jette (completed in 1923).
1908
Second marriage, to a Swede, Julia Carlsson.

1909
The Wolfers store, 11-13 Rue d'Arenberg in Brussels.

1912
Horta is given the task of reorganising the courses at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in
Brussels.

1913
Appointed director of this same Academy for a period of three years.

1916
Attended the 'Reconstruction of Belgium' congress in London. The German
authorities learnt of his journey. Unable to return home, Horta went to America,
where he remained until January 1919.

1919
Sold his house and studio in the Rue Américaine. Drew the first plans for the Palais
des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (inaugurated in 1928).
Appointed professor at the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp.
1925
Architect of Belgium's 'Pavillon d'honneur' at the International
Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris.
Appointed director of the Fine Arts section of the Académie
Royale de Belgique.

1932
Horta made a baron.

1937
Final plans for the Central Station in Brussels.

1939
Began writing his Mémoires.

1945
Pulped part of his personal archives.

1947
Died on 8 September and was interred in the Ixelles Cemetery in
Brussels
DESIGN TECHNIQUES AND MATERIAL EMPLOYMENT
His designs were greatly inspired by the emerging impressionist and
pointillist artists in Paris. Also his use of iron and glass in his works.

Together with professor Alphonse Balat, architect to Leopold II of

Belgium they designed the royal Greenhouses of Laeken, Horta's first
work to utilise glass and iron.

He greatly embraced Art Nouveau style.

He focused on the curvature of his designs, believing that the forms he

produced were highly practical and not artistic affectations.

His Ornate and elaborate designs and natural lighting were concealed
behind a stone façade to harmonize the building with the more rigid
houses next door. He also employing iron and stone façade with elaborate
iron interiors.
 WORKS OF VICTOR HORTA

HOTEL TASSEL. The design had a groundbreaking semi open-plan floor

layout for a house of the time, and incorporated interior iron structure with
curvilinear botanical forms, later described as “biomorphic whiplash”. Ornate and
elaborate designs and natural lighting were concealed behind a stone façade to
harmonize the building with the more rigid houses next door. It was designed and
INTERIOR OF THE HOTEL TASSEL:THE
MAIN FOYER.
The Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, a multi-purpose cultural centre designed in
a formal style that was new at the time, but which foreshadows Art Deco as well as
having cubist features, is a particularly prominent example. It was constructed
from 1923 to 1927.Externally the building is clad in stone, however it was largely
built using reinforced concrete. Following the way he had left steel exposed in his
Art Nouveau buildings, Horta had originally intended to leave the concrete
exposed internally. Unfortunately the surface was unsatisfactory and, to his regret,
Brussels-Central Railway Station. Its
construction began before world war 1 and
ended after world war2,that is both wars
interrupting its construction.
Interior of the Horta
Museum
OTHER WORKS OF VICTOR HORTA
•1885 : 3 houses, Twaalfkameren 49, 51, 53 in Ghent (design)
•1889 : Temple of Human Passions, Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels (protected
monument since 1976)
•1890 : Maison Matyn, rue de Bordeauxstraat 50, 1060 Saint-Gilles
•1892-1893 : Hôtel Tassel, rue Paul-Emile Jansonstraat 6 in Brussels 1893 :
• Maison Autrique, Haachtsesteenweg/Chaussée de Haecht 266 in Schaerbeek 1894 :
• Hôtel Winssinger, Munthofstraat / rue de l'Hôtel de la Monnaie 66 in Saint-Gilles 1894 :
• Hôtel Frison, rue Lebeaustraat 37 in Brussels
•1894 : Hôtel Solvay, Avenue Louise 224 in Brussels
•1901 : House and Studio for the sculptor Fernant Dubois, Avenue Brugmannlaan 80 in
Forest, Belgium
• 1901 : House and Studio for the sculptor Pieter-Jan Braecke, rue de l'Abdication /
Troonafstandstraat 51 in Brussels
•1902 : Hôtel Max Hallet, Avenue Louise 346 in Brussels
•1912 : Brussels-Central railway station (first designs; completed by Maxime Brunfaut
and inaugurated in 1952).
•1920 : Centre for Fine Arts, rue Ravensteinstraat in Brussels (first design; opened in 1928).
1925 : Belgian pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels
Modernes in Paris in 1925.
• 1928 : Musée des Beaux-Arts Tournai in Tournai.
REFERENCES

1.Cuito, Aurora (2003). Victor Horta. New York: Te Neues Publishing Company. ISBN 3823855

2.Dernie, David (1995). Victor Horta. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 1854904183.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Horta

4. http://www.hortamuseum.be/main.php?lang=en&part=horta&page=biographie

5. http://www.google.co.ke/images?q=victor+horta&oe