Reading Comp. 6

[1]


     "art nouveau was a self-consciously modern expression, owning little in a strictly formal sense to earlier historical periods"
                   -leland roth, p.515


art nouveau, also known as other names such as jugenstil all depending on the location, finds its home in france. it was a short movement during the late 19th century, and early 20th century. art nouveau was a movement mainly seen throughout europe and n. america, but who's influence spread throughout the world. i'm focusing on it's influence within belgium, spain, and scotland. 

starting out in belgium, I focus in on the hotel tassel. the tassel is located in brussels, and is designed by victor horta, who is well known in brussels for his art nouveau buildings. horta found inspiration for the building from a visit to an art nouveau exhibit he had gone to in 1892. following shortly after his visit, the construction of the tassel began in 1893. at first, the building seems to fit in with other town-homes in the area, but at a closer look, one starts to observe the curvilinear forms, the columns that seem out of place on the second level, the decorative glass in between the columns, and the semicircular windows trying to escape from the facade. it's not until inside the building, one really begins to see how different it is from the surrounding. the interior has an open-floor plan, curvilinear forms, iron used frequently, and natural light which from the outside, appears to be hidden. 

i find this image which was done a year before the tassel was built to have connections with the building. i think this could be an example of some of the work that inspired horta while at the exhibit. the image of the interior mimics the black and white drawing through the curvilinear forms, and the highly decorated walls, floor, and even the forms in the balustrade.  

next, i travel to spain to talk about anton gaudi's casa mila. construction started in 1905 in barcelona, and it appears to have broken every rule thought of up until this point. gaudi was known to have been greatly inspired by nature, i find this interesting because when looking at the image above, the trees in the foreground seem to completely blend in with the building itself. i also find the building alone to appear not as a building, but some free-flowing form i would expect to find in nature. this notion of biomimicry doesn't end with the facade, but it found throughout the building, roth says its plan looks like "an enlargement of a microscopic cross-section of a plant stem".  

it is known that anton gaudi was influenced by his studies of nature and mathematics, and i think the image above shows connections to gaudi's work. the waves in the image resemble the overall look of the building itself. the waves are flowing and moving in whatever way they wish to, as does the building. the building captures movement with no parameters of form, but the building is successfully constructed only through gaudi's precise and complex system that creates the structure. this is where machine comes into play, and in the image above, the "machine" appears as the ships on the water. 

finally, i arrive in scotland to find the glasgow school of art building. the building was designed by charles mackintosh and underwent construction in 1897. i find the building to be moving forward to more modern times with its simple geometry consisting mostly of a series of squares and rectilinear forms. it does however, have a sense of movement. when viewing the facade, starting with the main entrance, there is a welcoming staircase which leads you to the front door with what appears to be opening arms. there's also some curvilinear forms and iron work found in and around the entrance place. moving on either side of the entrance, the iron work continues in the fence, and the stone gives a notion of waves, capturing motion moving away from the entrance. the image below can connect with the building with the stacking effect of square and rectilinear shapes, through the masonry scale of the building, as well as putting together the shapes and geometry that create the form of the building. 

though all included examples of the art nouveau movement are quite different, they all have similarities and connections to one another. this era was a time where architects and designers did their own thing, they had their own unique ideas, and they showed it throughout their work, this also applies to art work. having said that, the differences among them are to be expected, but some of the things seen in architecture that stayed common were the heavy use of iron, nature, floral, and the notion of movement. 

http://www.laurabielecki.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/victor_horta_hotel_tassel_staircase.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Beardsley-peacockskirt.PNG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Victor_Horta_Hotel_Tassel.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Casa_Milà_-_Barcelona%2C_Spain_-_Jan_2007.jpg
http://picsdigger.com/image/6c5dfdd8/
http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/PC1313017.jpg
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/images/560/BHC/13/BHC1387.jpg

[2]

"machines for living"

designed in 1929 by ludwig mies van der rohe, the barcelona chair appears to be machine a living space, especially for time period it was designed. the frame on to which the chair lies looks like it was simply extruded from a machine, but was actually the craftsmanship and work of the man was very much involved. this simple design gives a notion of "less is more", it makes the sitting part of the chair appear as if it were floating. on the barcelona's broader context, there is the barcelona pavilion. 

"unrestricted by cost or function"

-massey, p.77 

the barcelona chair was designed to be in the barcelona pavilion, which along with the chair, was built by mies in 1929 and is located in barcelona, spain. the building was built for the 1929 exposition in barcelona. mies' work was considered to be on the high end, and in the pavilion, the unlimited budget allowed him to express that. he used materials such as brass, marble, and plate glass. 

the images above shows how the building looks machine. there aren't any decorations or ornamentation that has been seen heavily in historical design. everything however was placed very carefully, by man. the slabs of marble were certainly cut by machine, but the preciseness of where they are cut, in the way they are put into place, and the way they are harnessed to make sure they stay in place are all done by man. 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Barcelonapavilion2010.jpg

http://amhhomeinteriors.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/b_a_barcelona_chair_mies_van_der_rohe3.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Pavelló_Mies_05.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Barcelona_mies_v_d_rohe_pavillon_weltausstellung1999_03.jpg

[3]

massey, anne. interior design since 1900

page 101

looking at the image in the massey book, this interior with an oversized zebra print rug appears as if were black and white and dull and cold. using the information describing the space, it is actually an explosion of color.