Table of Contents List of Illustrations 2 Introduction 4 Chapter 1: Attitudes to Conservation in Brussels 6 1.1 - History of Conservation in Belgium 6 1.2 - Belgian Conservation Legislation 8 1.3 - ‘Brusselisation’ 9 Chapter 2: The Sociocultural Value of Art Nouveau 10 2.1 - Historical Value 10 2.2 - Cultural and Symbolic Value 12 2.3 - Aesthetic Value 14 Chapter 3: Economic Value of the Conservation of Art Nouveau 16 3.1 - The Cost of Conservation of a Horta Property 16 3.2 - Economic Value of a Restored House 19 Conclusions 20 Glossary of Terms 22 Appendix 23 Horta’s Most Influential Works 23 An Insight into Horta - Interview with Françoise Aubry 25 Bibliography 27 1 List of Illustrations Figure 1. Hôtel Tassel - Entrance Hall [Photograph] by: Jean and Rene Delhaye. Taken from: Horta the Ultimate Art Nouveau Architect (Aubry, et al., 2005) Figure 2. Hôtel Tassel – Front Façade [Photograph] by: Arco Ardon. Taken from: Flickr.com – Arco Ardon -Brussels (2009) Figure 3. Palais Stoclet [Photograph] by: Jean-Pol Grandmont. Taken from: Hoffmann, Brussels (2005) Figure 4. Brussels Skyline – Haphazard Placement of High Rise Buildings [Photograph] by: Erasmushogeschool. Taken from: Flickr.com – Skyline Brussels (2009) Figure 5a. Maison de Peuple [Photograph] by: Moicani. Taken from: moicani.over-blog.com (2013) Figure 5b. The Sablon Tower [Photograph] by: Knight Frank. Taken from: Knightfrank.co.uk (Unknown) Figure 6. Hôtel Tassel - Capital of an iron 'tree' column [Photograph] by: Jean and Rene Delhaye. Taken from: Horta the Ultimate Art Nouveau Architect (Aubry, et al., 2005) Figure 7. Barcelona Pavilion Structure [Photograph] by: Claudio Divizia. Taken from: Greatbuildings.com (2013) Figure 8. Alphonse Mucha – Unknown Print [Print] by: Alphonse Mucha. Photograph Taken from: Flickr.com – Damyan Artist (2008) Figure 9. Hokusai – The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1833) [Woodblock Print] by Katsushisa Hokusai. Photograph Taken from: The Spaulding Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Unknown) 2 Figure 10. Hôtel Solvay –Door Handle Detail [Photograph] by: Pierre d’Otreppe. Taken from: Living the Solvay House (Oostens-Wittamer, 1982) Figure 11. Hôtel Solvay – Entrance Hall [Photograph] by: Pierre d’Otreppe. Taken from: Living the Solvay House (Oostens-Wittamer, 1982) Figure 12. Hôtel Solvay – Front Façade [Photograph] by: Unknown. Taken from: Travel-pictures-gallery.com (Unknown) Figure 13. Hôtel Solvay – Stained Glass Light Well [Photograph] by: Choux de Bruxelles. Taken from: Choux de Bruxelles (2014) Figure 14. Table showing an Annual Comparison of Property Prices in the Brussels Capitals Region [Table] Produced by: Stephan Moens. Taken from: Statistics Belgium (2014) Figure 15. Hôtel Max Hallet – Restored Interior [Photograph] by: Bruxelles5 Photography. Taken from photos.bruxelles5.info/maxhallet/ (2011) Figure 16. Maison et Atelier Horta (Horta Museum)- Staircase, Interior Details and Bespoke Furniture [Photograph] by: Bruxelles5 Photography. Taken from: photos.bruxelles5.info/Horta/ (2009) Figure 17. Magasins Waucquez – Interior View [Photograph] by: Christine Bastin and Jacques Evrard. Taken from: patatheatre, wordpress.com (2012) 3 Introduction Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is a melting pot of Germanic, Flemish and French cultural influences and these-days is known primarily for its chocolate, waffles, french-fries, mussels and beer! Recently it has become recognised as the centre of European power and a modern concrete metropolis. However, at the turn of the 20th century this somewhat unpopular and bureaucratic perception could not have been further from the truth. The city’s “wide boulevards, elegant shops and extensive parks” (Sembach, 1991, p. 41) accentuated the fact that Belgium was a relatively young and fashionable country, very keen to impress. The increasingly liberal city of Brussels became the epicentre of one of Europe’s most extreme artistic movements: art nouveau. Art nouveau flourished in Belgium for several reasons. Belgium became more outward looking, by colonising the Congo and by opening its borders to foreign influences, especially to that of Japan. As a result the wealthy wanted to be seen embracing ‘Japonism’ and artists assimilated a range of new techniques into their arsenals. Japanese art also had a penchant for natural form, something that was fast becoming desired in the industrialised city centres. Belgium had become only the second country, after the United Kingdom, in which the industrial revolution took place. Whilst artists were against mass production and machines and were turning to a more oriental, organic and bespoke art form, industry would eventually and paradoxically become one with art nouveau because of the opportunities new technologies and materials provided. Belgian and Parisian artists were at the forefront of the avant-garde and looking for a way to greet the new century. Above all, art nouveau was conceived in defiance of the stagnating historicist architecture rife throughout Europe at the time. Art nouveau spanned the entire artistic spectrum, but was particularly prevalent in architecture, graphics, decorative arts, furniture design, fashion and textiles. It has several immediately identifiable characteristics, most of all the ‘whiplash’ curve; a meandering, even serpentine response to natural vegetative and feminine geometry. The overall aesthetic has subtle arabesque and oriental hints (Fig.1). In architecture, its biggest development was the artistic expression of necessary structure and the use of new materials. Art nouveau made a disproportionately large impact in a very short time and the advances achieved through it paved the way for other far more recognised movements, in particular art deco and modernism. Figure 1. Hôtel Tassel - Entrance Hall 4 Although the origin of art nouveau is disputed, Hôtel Tassel (Fig.1&2) in Brussels, designed by Victor Horta and completed 1893, is credited as the point at which “art nouveau first assumed a clearly defined form and … developed three-dimensionally” (Schmutzler, 1964, p. 125). As a result, Horta’s name has become synonymous with art nouveau and his style has become regarded as the quintessential version of the movement. Horta’s works are all examples of Gesamtkunstwerke (see glossary) and his meticulous attention to detail can be seen throughout his designs in bespoke furniture or even in the detail on, for example, radiators or door handles. His designs pushed industrial materials so that they were utilised in an artistic way, in primarily residential functions. Now that the value of art nouveau has been realised, his designs are becoming increasingly sought after. Whilst this Figure 2. Hôtel Tassel - Front Facade dissertation focuses on the conservation of Horta’s work, it is not an exhaustive analysis of art nouveau architecture, in which several other artist, such as Alphonse Mucha, Henry van de Velde and Antoni Gaudí feature prominently. The other end of the art nouveau window in Brussels was marked by Josef Hoffman’s Palais Stoclet (completed in 1911), a building that straddled art nouveau and art deco (Fig.3). There, as in the rest of Europe, Adolf Loos’s ‘Ornament and Crime’ which Figure 3. Palais Stoclet advocated “removal of ornament from objects of daily use” (Loos, 1908) and the breakout of the First World War in 1914, heralded the end of the art nouveau period. Art nouveau has become an integral part of Belgium’s national identity, and growing international admiration for it as a collectable, visually pleasing and luxury artefact, has caused its burgeoning antique value. As a result, examples of art nouveau are sold for considerable sums of money. Because of the necessarily public nature of art nouveau architecture, in Brussels, Horta’s buildings have both financial value and considerable non-financial value. This essay aims to judge whether or not Horta’s work in Brussels is worth conserving; how architectural value is defined; and also the importance of quantifying Horta’s work, both in financial terms and in breadth of societal impact in Brussels, where, ironically, his work has not always been held in such high esteem as it is now. 5 Chapter 1: Attitudes to Conservation in Brussels 1.1 - History of Conservation in Belgium Architectural conservation has long been linked with national pride and history. However, in Belgium “debates about the relative merits of restoration and conservation have continued … for over 150 years” (Stubbs & Makaš, 2011, p. 113). Belgium endured occupation in both world wars. As a result, its patrimoine (heritage) suffered both extensive allied bombing and the familiar looting when German soldiers fled during the liberation. However, it was these series of unfortunate events that provided a need for, and a rekindled interest in, conservation and preservation of heritage and the nation’s past. Modern Belgian attitudes on conservation were perhaps defined and inspired by the work of three theoreticians in the mid-19th Century: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, John Ruskin and Charles Buls. Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and architectural philosopher who championed ‘stylistic restoration’ a “romantic appreciation of historic monuments” (Jokilehto, 1999, p. 137). However, he was also a scholar and took a very academic approach, requiring the study of historical aspects of buildings, analysing and documenting them. Yet when it came to the physical process of restoration, buildings were often torn down and rebuilt in an exaggerated manner. His views were predominantly adopted in the mid