Hôtel Hannon

The Hôtel Hannon (french: Hôtel Hannon; nl, Hotel Hannon) is a historic town house in Brussels, Belgium. Constructed between 1903 and 1904, in Art Nouveau style, for the industrialist Édouard Hannon, it is the only house in that style designed by the architect Jules Brunfaut.L'Hôtel Hannon sur le site de l'inventaire du patrimoine architectural de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
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The Hôtel Hannon is located at 1, /, at the corner of the /, in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, "in a neighbourhood which, even today, remains a sacred district of architectural jewels."

History

Édouard Hannon was an engineer with Solvay S.A., a major chemicals company, and the long-time manager of Solvay's sodium carbonate plant at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, just south of Nancy, France. He was also a painter, art critic and photographer.

Hannon gave the task of conceiving and building his new house to his friend Jules Brunfaut, asking him to use the Art Nouveau style that Hannon loved very much and that was popular both in Brussels and Nancy. The house was occupied by the Hannon family until 1965. Upon the death of the original owner's daughter, the property was abandoned, vandalised, and eventually threatened with demolition. In 1973, Jules Brunfaut's daughter consulted the Royal Commission of Monuments and Sites and made enquiries as to the status of this work of her father, which was still unoccupied; as a result of her efforts, the building's exterior was classified as a protected monument in 1976. The building was acquired by the municipality of Saint-Gilles in 1979, the interior was classified in 1983, and the building underwent a significant renovation between 1984 and 1989.

In 1988, the Hôtel Hannon was put at the disposal of the ''Espace photographique Contretype'', which, in addition to conserving the photographic work of Édouard Hannon, works to promote creative photography through expositions, retrospectives of artists, conferences and their publications. After having occupied the Hôtel until 2014, Contretype moved to the Cité Fontainas, another building in Saint-Gilles.

In 2022, the entirely renovated building will become a museum, under the auspices of the team at the Horta Museum. Visitors will be able to rediscover the furniture of Émile Gallé, which will return to its original home.

Architecture

The façades of the Hôtel Hannon combine white brick, limestone, and blue stone. The house has two very asymmetrical façades: a short one of a single bay on the Avenue Brugmann, and a more important façade of two bays on the Avenue de la Jonction, with the two façades joined by a three-bay angular span between them. The façade of the Avenue de la Jonction presents a play of volumes in projections and recesses. Its central bay carries a large bay window comprising a limestone base, a chassis in wood that holds a stained glass window by Raphaël Évaldre and a roof covered in zinc, surmounted by a setback of the upper floors, pierced by a triplet of windows on the first floor and a pair of windows on the second floor.

The corner, consisting of three bays, is ornamented with a remarkable wrought iron balcony undergirded by a stone substructure that extends from the base to the first floor, where they "open into volutes." The upper level of the corner bay is decorated with a large bas-relief by Victor Rousseau entitled ''La fileuse'' ("The spinner"), which is an allegory of ''Time''.

The building is a rather clumsy Art Nouveau design, and Brunfaut's discomfort with the style is evident, but the architect nonetheless took some cues from his fellow, more adept Art Nouveau designer Victor Horta, such as the impressive central staircase, a typical design element in Horta's residences such as the Hôtel Tassel, the Hôtel Solvay, and the Hôtel van Eetvelde.

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hotel Hannon - 01.jpg, Oriel and bays facing the Avenue de la Jonction
File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hotel Hannon - 02.jpg, Oriel
File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hotel Hannon - 03.jpg, Base of the oriel
File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hotel Hannon - 04.jpg, Corner bays
File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hotel Hannon - 05.jpg, ''La fileuse'', bas-relief by Victor Rousseau

Interior

The architect called on numerous artists for the building's interior and exterior decoration. The conception of the furniture (which will return to the house in 2022 with the opening of the museum) and the interior decoration is the work of Émile Gallé and Louis Majorelle. Certain frescoes in the smoking room and the stair hall are the work of the painter Paul Albert Baudouin.Piet Swimberghe, ''Living in Brussels''. Lannoo Uitgeverij, pp. 126–128. ISBN 9020949799. The staircase ironwork is by Pierre Desmedt, and the stained glass the work of Raphaël Évaldre.

Hôtel Hannon 1212.jpg,
Hôtel Hannon 1211.jpg,
Hôtel Hannon 1213.jpg,
Hotel Hannon mosaic.jpg, Stair hall mosaic
Hôtel Hannon 1204.jpg, Stained glass

See also

* List of museums in Brussels
* Art Nouveau in Brussels
* History of Brussels
* Culture of Belgium
* Belgium in the long nineteenth century

References

External links

*

Official website
* https://visit.brussels/en/place/Hotel-Hannon
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H5dWBo_RJE
* https://aboutartnouveau.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/hotel-hannon-brussels/
* http://www.contretype.org/v1/angl/01/01_02.html

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hôtel Hannon
Houses in Belgium
Museums in Brussels
Historic house museums in Belgium
Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Art Nouveau architecture in Brussels
Art Nouveau houses
Art museums and galleries in Belgium
Belgian photography organisations
Photography museums and galleries
Houses completed in 1904
1904 establishments in Belgium