The Hôtel Solvay (french: Hôtel Solvay, nl, Hotel Solvay) is a large
Art Nouveau town house
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
designed by
Victor Horta
Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. His Hôtel Tassel in Brussels, built in 1892–93, is often ...
on the
Avenue Louise/Louizalaan in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium. The house was commissioned by Armand Solvay, the son of the chemist and industrialist
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical fac ...
, and built from 1898 to 1900.
Together with
three other town houses of Victor Horta, including
Horta's own house and workshop, it was added to the
UNESCO World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
list in 2000.
[
]
History
The Hôtel Solvay was designed and built by Horta, between 1898 and 1900, to serve as a private residence for Armand Solvay, the son of the chemist, industrialist and philanthropist Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's chemical fac ...
. For this wealthy patron, Horta could spend a fortune on precious materials and expensive details. He designed every single detail; furniture, carpets, light fittings, tableware and even the doorbell. He used expensive materials such as marble, onyx
Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...
, bronze, tropical woods, etc. For the decoration of the staircase, he cooperated with the pointillist painter Théo van Rysselberghe
Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century.
Biography
Early years
Born ...
.
The Hôtel Solvay and most of its 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. As of Saturday, 23 January 2021, the building will start operating as a museumHôtel Solvay to open as a museum
/ref> and will be accepting visitors twice a week.
Awards
The UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
commission recognised the Hôtel Solvay as UNESCO World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2000, as part of the listing ' Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta':
Gallery
File:Bruxelles - Hôtel Solvay (1).jpg,
File:Entrance - Hôtel Solvay - 1898.jpg,
File:Solvay House - Detail (Victor Horta, arch.).jpg,
File:Design for the Hôtel Solvay.jpg,
See also
* Art Nouveau in Brussels
The Art Nouveau movement of architecture and design first appeared in Brussels, Belgium, in the early 1890s, and quickly spread to France and to the rest of Europe. It began as a reaction against the formal vocabulary of European academic art, ...
* History of Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
* Belgium in "the long nineteenth century"
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Françoise Aubry and Jos Vandenbreeden, ''Horta, Art Nouveau to Modernism'', Ludion Press Ghent — Harry N. Abrams Publishers New York, 1996.
External links
www.hotelsolvay.be
Hôtel Solvay on BALaT - Belgian Art Links and Tools (KIK-IRPA, Brussels)
* https://www.themayor.eu/en/a/view/art-nouveau-pearl-hotel-solvay-opens-to-the-public-7041
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Solvay
Houses in Belgium
City of Brussels
World Heritage Sites in Belgium
Victor Horta buildings
Art Nouveau architecture in Brussels
Art Nouveau houses
Houses completed in 1900