The Hôtel van Eetvelde (french: Hôtel van Eetvelde, nl, Hotel van Eetvelde) is a

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 in 1895 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 ...

for Edmond van Eetvelde, administrator of

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

. It is located at 4, / 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. 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, as the core of epoch-making urban residences

designed before 1900.

Building

Main building

The visible application of "industrial" materials, such as steel and glass, was a novel for prestigious private dwellings at the time. In the Hôtel van Eetvelde, Horta also used a hanging steel construction for the facade. The interior receives additional lighting through a central reception room covered by a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. File:Hotel van Eetvelde 2012-06 --3.jpg, General view File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 08.jpg, Upper part of the main facade File:Hotel van Eetvelde.jpg, Panel of mosaics

Extension

An extension to the house was designed by Horta in 1898. This building has a more conventional, beautifully detailed, sandstone facade. It was designed to house a garage, an office for van Eetvelde, as well as supporting apartments, and therefore had a separate entrance at 2, /. This house later became the home of the architect , collaborator of Horta who became, after the latter's death, the great defender of his work. File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 02.jpg, The extension, 2, / File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 03.jpg, Facade of the extension File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 11.jpg, Entrance of the extension

Interior design

The interior of the central building revolves around an octagonal rotunda surmounted by a skylight. This rotunda and its glass roof were reconstructed in 1988, as they were originally designed by Horta. Horta combined here a rest area and a movement area: the rotunda has the function of a small living room or Winter Garden, but it is surrounded by a circulation area that provides the connection with the living room, the dining room and stairwell. The cupola with its coloured stained glass windows is supported by eight steel columns which "are integrated into this vegetal world like rods". The dining room door is adorned with opalescent glass whose tint changes according to the intensity and incidence of light. File:Winter Garden in the Hôtel Van Eetvelde (rue Palmerston, 4, Brussels).jpg, The Winter Garden File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 20.jpg, Detail of the Winter Garden File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Van Eetvelde - 21.jpg, Doorway with

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 van Eetvelde as

in 2000, as part of the listing ' Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta':

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Hôtel van Eetvelde on greatbuildings.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Van Eetvelde 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