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Paris 1900: Architecture and Design
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If Brussels was the place of birth of Art Nouveau architecture, it was the 1900 World's Fair in Paris that gave the "new style" international fame.
Ironically, Paris herself did not welcome Art Nouveau architecture. The hostility had to do with France's fierce nationalism. For the French, the authors note, "England was strange; Belgium provincial; Germany dangerous; and Italy nonexistent." It was fine for Gallé to create Art Nouveau glasswork and furniture, but when it came to architecture, Parisians felt it threatened the dignity of their city. Only recently have French critics recognized Hector Guimard - the designer of the celebrated stations of the Métro - as one of the great pioneers of modern architecture. And Guimard was not the only one. There were, too, Frantz Jourdain, the creator of La Samaritaine;
Jules Lavirotte, Salvador Dali's hero; Charles Plumet, and many more.
The book is dedicated to these men and their works, many of which are shown here with their original blueprints. As Franco Borsi and Ezio Godoli, of the University of Florence, eloquently demonstrate, despite the petty quarrels that momentarily paralyzed Art Nouveau's creative elan, its production in the Paris of the early 1900s represents an important event in the history of European architecture.
