Hôtel Solvay

Hotel Solvay
Hôtel Solvay(French)
Hotel Solvay(Dutch)

Hotel Solvay, located at 224 Avenue Louise in Brussels
General information
Architectural style Art Nouveau
Location Brussels, Belgium
Coordinates 50°49′34.75″N 4°21′55″E / 50.8263194°N 4.36528°E / 50.8263194; 4.36528Coordinates: 50°49′34.75″N 4°21′55″E / 50.8263194°N 4.36528°E / 50.8263194; 4.36528
Current tenants Louis Wittamer
Construction started 1898
Completed 1900
Client Armand Solvay
Design and construction
Architect Victor Horta
Official name Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Designated 2000 (24th session)
Reference no. 1005
State Party  Belgium
Region Europe and North America

The Hôtel Solvay is a large Art Nouveau town house designed by Victor Horta on the Avenue Louise in Brussels. The house was commissioned by Armand Solvay, the son of the wealthy Belgian chemist and industrialist Ernest Solvay. For this wealthy patron Horta could spend a fortune on precious materials and expensive details. Horta designed every single detail; furniture, carpets, light fittings, tableware and even the door bell. He used expensive materials such as marble, onyx, bronze, tropic woods etc. For the decoration of the staircase Horta cooperated with the Belgian pointillist painter Théo van Rysselberghe. The Hôtel Solvay and most of its splendid content remained intact thanks to the Wittamer family. They acquired the house in the 1950s and did the utmost to preserve and restore this magnificent dwelling. The house is still private property and can only be visited by appointment and under very strict conditions. The edifice is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Awards

The UNESCO commission recognized the Hôtel Solvay as UNESCO World Heritage in 2000 as one of the Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta.

“ The four major town houses - Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde, and Maison & Atelier Horta - located in Brussels and designed by the architect Victor Horta, one of the earliest initiators of Art Nouveau, are some of the most remarkable pioneering works of architecture of the end of the 19th century. The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, the diffusion of light, and the brilliant joining of the curved lines of decoration with the structure of the building. ”

See also

References

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