Adventures in iarc: Reading Comprehension 6

Interior Design Since 1900, Massey (pg. 35)

1] The Art Nouveau style of design incorporates motifs, undulating curves and high style to create a new way of design that is beautiful and full of nature. Art Nouveau was the first style catered not toward the very wealthy, but toward the middle class. It was a style that aimed to create architecture and interiors as a whole, placing as much emphasis on interiors as exteriors. The iron age and new advances made the style period possible. It was the designers who fully embraced the movement and brought it to life in interiors all over the world. " Art Nouveau was indebted to the Arts and Crafts for its flowing line, simplicity in furniture design and rejection of academic models." (Massey pg. 33)

In Belgium, the designer Victor Horta brought to life and epitomized the style through his use of a vine motif on the walls, floors and the winding tendrils in his first Art Nouveau residence, Tassel House. He went on to design several more domestic residences. The Tassel House is the most remembered, because it pioneered the interior style in Belgium. The wall paper clearly shows a tie back to England with Hortas use of an English wall-paper. Even though Horta mostly designs interiors, he got his start designing a government building for one of the socialist parties, making the style associated with socialism in Belgium.

Interior Design Since 1900 (pg.43)

Horta had severall contemporaries, one of which was the Parisian designer Hector Guimard. Guimard was inspired by the Art Nouveau style upon meeting Horta and viewing the Tassel House in Belgium. He immediately applied the style to the interior of an apartment complex he was working on in France. Another important figure who contributed to the style catching on in France was Van de Velde. He was close to artists and art critics. Being close to the art world influenced his design, and allowed him an outlet to display the style.

2] The major theme of the modern movement was "less is more". This attitude can clearly be seen with the de-materialization of the Bauhaus through the use of a glass curtain wall. The architects and designers during this time aimed for "truth in materials". The goal of the style was to strip away all unnecessary elements of a building or home. This led to interiors that some critics considered cold and de-humanized. The use of the curtain wall and exposure of metal beams is still popular in many commercial buildings today.