Art Nouveau – Art déco

The legacy of Art Nouveau (and to a lesser extent, Art Deco which developed in the 1920s) lives on in Brussels and flourishes with nearly every building around some of its quarters such as the well-to-do Ixelles and Saint-Gilles. These houses – some 500 intact buildings including shops, cafés and private houses – sprout up across the city. Belgium’s most prominent architect, Victor Horta, had caught on to the style just as it emerged and began to design brick-and-stone artworks of his own, which bore the Art Nouveau characteristics inside and out. 

In Brussels, the streets speak for themselves: it is a city where the creative genius of the fin de siècle bloomed, often understated, in the shadow of Europe’s other great metropolises. And yet, it is here that Art Nouveau remains unaffected, inspired, immortal in showing its complex and exquisite beauty to the public.