Hôtel Otlet
The Hôtel Otlet (French: Hôtel Otlet, Dutch: Hotel Otlet) is an Art Nouveau building designed by Octave van Rysselberghe on the corner of the Rue de Florence/Florencestraat and the Rue de Livourne/Livornostraat in Brussels, Belgium. This work marks the still cautious insertion of Van Rysselberghe into the current of Art Nouveau.[1][2]
| Hôtel Otlet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Art Nouveau |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°49′46″N 4°21′35″E |
| Construction started | 1894 |
| Completed | 1898 |
| Client | Paul Otlet |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Octave van Rysselberghe |
History
The Hôtel Otlet was built from 1894 to 1898 for the jurist, bibliographer and entrepreneur Paul Otlet. Van Rysselberghe completed this project more than ten years after the completion of his Hôtel Goblet d'Alviella in 1882.[2][3]
The building was classified as a monument in 1984 and restored from 2001 until 2003.[1] It currently houses a law office.
Location
The hôtel particulier is located in Brussels, at the corner of the Rue de Livourne/Livornostraat (no. 48) and the Rue de Florence/Florencestraat (no. 13) in the same street where Van Rysselberghe built his personal house (Maison Van Rysselberghe, rue de Livourne no. 83), in the heart of a district that is home to many masterpieces of Brussels Art Nouveau such as the Hôtel Solvay, the Hôtel Tassel and the Hankar House.[4][5]
Exterior architecture
Style and material
Like Octave Van Rysselberghe's other creations, the Hôtel Otlet was built in a very sober Art Nouveau style, at odds with the rococo excesses of certain Art Nouveau architects such as Gustave Strauven.
The hotel is built in very carefully paired pierre de Savonnières,[1][2] a golden-colored cut stone from Lorraine, with the exception of the basement, which is made of blue stone.
Asymmetries and sets of volumes
The facade has a turbulent appearance which results from the abandonment of symmetry and the interplay of incoming and outgoing volumes, and which is tempered by an impression of unity conferred by the horizontal lines of the basement and the cornice.[2]
The two completely asymmetrical facades are linked together by a corner oriel window with the most beautiful effect. These facades offer a subtle interplay of volumes (bow window, oriel, cubicles, balcony, loggia and porch), asymmetrical in their shape, their layout and the number of their bays. All these elements are subtly linked together by the cordon which delimits the ground floor and the first floor.
Ground floor
The ground floor of the rue de Florence facade is pierced by an "in-work" porch,[1] whose vault is made of glazed white bricks. This porch houses a door adorned with a handle with whiplash lines typical of floral Art Nouveau. The door is surmounted by a stained glass window in orange, green and black tones, also featuring floral motifs characteristic of Art Nouveau.
The corner oriel
Art Nouveau stained glass
Door handle
First Floor
The porch is surmounted by a loggia embedded in the facade of the first floor: vaulted with glazed bricks like the porch, it houses two rows of windows, one of which consists of windows of increasing size. This loggia is framed by a cubicle and a bow window.
The bow window
The loggia
The cabin
Facade of the Rue de Livourne
The facade of the rue de Livourne, of a “stunning variety”,[2] is just as asymmetrical as the facade of the rue de Florence. It begins with a triangular oriel which extends from the ground floor to the first floor to continue with a set made up of three windows surmounted by a rectangular box framed by two small balconies "in-work" and finally to end with a double balcony supported by elegant consoles.
The balcony
The triangular oriel
The cabin
Exterior decoration
Apart from the games of volumes mentioned above, the only ornament on the facades consists of a frieze of arabesques and scallop shells on a blue background placed under the cornice.
Interior decoration
The centerpiece of its interior design, a stained glass window with a floral motif separates the living room from the grand staircase while providing the latter with additional light. Architect Henry van de Velde helped with the interior decoration.[4]
References
- Inventaire du patrimoine architectural de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
- Pierre Loze, Dominique Vautier et Marina Vestre, Guide de Bruxelles XIXème et Art Nouveau, Eiffel Editions - CFC Éditions, 1990, p. 209
- Steiner-Welz, Sonja (2006). Alte europäische Städte (in German). Welz, Reinhard, Vermittlerverlag Mannheim. p. 96. ISBN 9783866563667. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- "Huis Otlet". Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- Aragón Rangel, María Eugenia (2018). Casas escasas El art nouveau en la Ciudad de México. INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ANT. p. 77. ISBN 9786075390574. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
External links
Media related to Hôtel Otlet at Wikimedia Commons