Art Nouveau became a very common theme across numerous nations in the 20th century. Combining art and nature was a designers new way of introducing modernism and new production methods. America was not the only nation to use this declaration of being it's own independent country, but also Paris and Berlin, who countries who have been through many different eras, have also began to adapt the art nouveau style.
In Paris, France, Hector Guirmard, who is known for his metal work in metro stations, began to alter all of the decorative characteristics he was putting in his buildings. He was designing carpets, furniture, wallpaper, mosaic floors, and even door handles. One of his buildings was the Castel Beranger apartment complex. The most exciting space of the house was the entrance. Putting to use his good reputation for iron work, he made the front gate entrance with art nouveau style. The gate is asymmetrical, the ornament was inspired by naturalistic themes, and the 'dynamic whiplash' is used many times (Massey, p. 40). These same characteristics are shown throughout the house. The shapes used in the gate are also placed along the hallways, carpets, banisters, and in the colored glass. This demonstrates the use of stylistic unity by incorporating all of the same art nouveau characteristics throughout many things in the building.
In Munich, Germany, Henry Van der Velde, Art Nouveau was also known as 'Jugendstil', which translates into 'young style'. This fits this style well considering it is new, and is being experimented with. It originates from young designers throwing away the old and just focusing on the new. Van der Velde had designed a bathroom for an art nouveau exhibit, but then moved onto bigger things. He designed the interior of Francios Haby's Barbour shop in 1900. His style is art nouveau, but with a more german take on it' it's different then Guirmard's. He used surface decoration of shapes on the walls, and has swooping cabinets that are completely symmetrical. He always did something people did not entirely approve of; he left light fixtures and pipes completely exposed. (Massey, p. 44) I thought this picture put Henry's view of art nouveau in an interesting way...
[2] When I saw the word "machine", I automatically thought of the Villa Savoy. It was created by Le Corbusier and placed in a suburb in Paris. Not only does this house look like a machine, but it acts as one too. In society, cars were invented and becoming more and more advanced. Le Corbusier used them as part of his inspiration. The actual radius of the first floor is based of the radius of a car. It is interesting that the house function as a machine, just was the car whom inspired it is a machine. The house appears to be 'lifted free of the earth' by the columns supporting it (Roth, p. 531). The roof is made of gardens (p. 532) which gives the appearance almost of the house growing out of the landscape. The floor plan is very open, which allows smooth human movement, just like a machine should run.
This picture shows the new ideas of modernism; straight linear lines, some bold color, ribbed windows, and abstract shapes.
[3] Massey, p. 72
[1] good writing. sources for images? [2] strong idea about people movement as the "machine"....could be helpful for your final project. [3] nice rendering, but no annotation.
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