Gustave Strauven (23 June 1878 – 19 March 1919) was a Belgian architect associated with the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

movement. Active primarily in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, he designed over 30 buildings characterized by their dynamic forms, elaborate ornamentation, and innovative use of materials. Strauven was known for incorporating intricate wrought ironwork featuring floral and organic motifs, and for embracing emerging construction technologies of his time. Despite his short life, his work remains a distinctive contribution to Belgium's architectural heritage.

Biography

Gustave Strauven was born in

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

, Brussels, on 23 June 1878, the son of Arnold Strauven, a gardener from Limburg, Belgium, and Catherine Backaert. He began his career when he was 18 years old, as an assistant designer working with Victor Horta, helping him with the Hôtel van Eetvelde and the Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis in Brussels. Two years later, he spent one year in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

as a draftsman in an architectural office. He then returned to Brussels, where he became a prominent architect in the

movement. Mobilised during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Strauven died of his injuries on 19 March 1919 in a hospital in

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

, France. He was only forty years old. All his work was completed in less than twenty years.

Saint-Cyr House

The Saint-Cyr House is Strauven's most important building, built between 1901 and 1903 in a flamboyant

style. It was built to serve as a private residence for the painter and decorator . The house is situated at 11, / in the Squares Quarter (eastern part of the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

). It is only wide, but was given extraordinary height through Strauven's elaborate architectural inventions. The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is entirely covered by

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

bricks and has a large amount of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

, which is adorned with geometric motifs and ornate

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s at each floor. The wrought iron mimics vegetation and the decorative elements occupy all the space available. Due to its extravagance, the building has been called ''Art Nouveau-Baroque''. The interior is characterised by different styles, varying according to the rooms. The house had been in a poor state of repair, but as of March 2013, has been restored to its former splendour by the architect Francis Metzger, from the architectural office MA² - Metzger et Associés Architecture. File:Maison Saint-Cyr (DSCF7558).jpg, Saint-Cyr House File:Bruxelles Maison Saint-Cyr Zaun.jpg, File:Bruxelles Maison Saint-Cyr Fenster 2.jpg, File:Huis Saint-Cyr 05.jpg,

More works

* Houses of Mme Spaak, rue Saint-Quentin/Sint-Quintensstraat, 30–32, Squares Quarter, Brussels (1899) * Van Dijck House, boulevard Clovis/Clovislaan, 85, Squares Quarter, Brussels (1899–1901) * Private house, rue Van Campenhout/Van Campenhoutstraat, 51, Squares Quarter, Brussels (1901) * De Beck building, avenue Paul de Jaer/Paul de Jaerlaan, 9, Saint-Gilles (1902) * Private house, rue Souveraine/Opperstraat, 52,

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

(1902) * Strauven House, rue Luther/Lutherstraat, 28, Squares Quarter, Brussels (1902) * Van den Heede House, rue de l'Abdication/Troonsafstandsstraat, 4, Squares Quarter, Brussels (1904) * Apartment and shop building, avenue Louis Bertrand/Louis Bertrandlaan, 55–65 and rue Josaphat/Josaphatstraat, 338–340,

(1906) * Private house, Chaussée de Wavre/Waversesteenweg,

Etterbeek Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...

* Private house, avenue des Volontaires, 2,

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

* Private house, avenue Van Cutsem, 29,

* Apartment building, rue Rasson/Rassonstraat, 43–45, Schaerbeek (1906, attributed to Strauven on the basis of strong analogy with his other works) File:IMG_0449_Saint-Quentin_30-32_Brussel.jpg, Houses of Mme Spaak, rue Saint-Quentin/Sint-Quintensstraat 30–32, Brussels (1899) File:Gustave Strauven Maison Van Dyck.JPG, Van Dijck House, boulevard Clovis/Clovislaan 85, Brussels (1899–1901) File:Gustave Strauven rue Van Campenhout 51.JPG, Private house, rue Van Campenhout/rue Van Campenhoutstraat 51, Brussels (1901) File:Gustave Strauven rue Luther 28.jpg, Strauven House, rue Luther/Lutherstraat 28, Brussels (1902) File:Gustave Strauven - Louis Bertrandstraat 55-61 - Schaarbeek - voorgevel.jpg, Apartment and shop building, avenue Louis Bertrand/Louis Bertrandlaan 55–65,

(1906) File:G.Strauven Etterbeek 01.JPG, Private house, Chaussée de Wavre/Waversesteenweg,

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

L’œuvre de Gustave Strauven

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauven, Gustave People from Schaerbeek 1878 births 1919 deaths Art Nouveau architects 20th-century Belgian architects