| The Hotel
Solvay is a large Art Nouveau town house designed by Victor Horta on the
Avenue Louise in Brussels. The house was commissioned by Armand Solvay,
the son of the wealthy Belgian chemist and industrialist Ernest Solvay.
For this wealthy patron Horta could spend a fortune on precious
materials and expensive details. Horta designed every single detail;
furniture, carpets, light fittings, tableware and even the door bell. He
used expensive materials such as marble, onyx, bronze, tropic woods
etc. For the decoration of the staircase Horta cooperated with the
Belgian pointillist painter The van Rysselberghe. The Hotel Solvay and
most of its splendid content remained intact thanks to the Wittamer
family. They acquired the house in the 1950s and did the utmost to
preserve and restore this magnificent dwelling. The house is still
private property and can only be visited by appointment and under very
strict conditions. The edifice is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. |
