Frank Russell’s volume provides an international survey of the Art Nouveau movement’s architectural manifestations between the late nineteenth century and the start of World War I. The text categorizes the style by geographic region, analyzing how structural innovation and decorative organicism appeared in the works of Victor Horta in Belgium, Antoni Gaudí’s plastic forms in Spain, and the geometric secessionism of Otto Wagner in Vienna. It details specific building techniques, such as the early structural use of exposed iron and the integration of glass, ceramics, and curvilinear masonry to break from classical academicism.
Architectural historians and students of design use this book as a concentrated reference for identifying the regional variations of the fin de siècle aesthetic. Readers gain a technical understanding of how European architects transitioned from historical revivalism toward modernism. By studying the provided floor plans and photographs, the reader learns to distinguish between the floral lightness of the French style and the more rigid, vertical motifs found in the Glasgow School or German Jugendstil.
- Published
- 1979
- Language
- EN
