LA FERRONNERIE DE FAÇADE

DELL’ARCHITETTURA BELGA DELL’ULTIMO VENTENNIO DEL XIX SECOLO

Maria Chiara Rapalo

Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

Dipartimento di Architettura

Via Forno Vecchio 36, 80134 Napoli

mcrapalo@libero.it

ABSTRACT

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Belgian Art Nouveau architecture provided the opportunity to attend interesting and innovative methods to employ iron as a structural and ornamental material.

In those years, its use, with other organic materials, gave rise to interesting buildings characterized by particular conformations of facade, unique in their kind.

This survey target is to investigate traditional iron works, especially focusing on the articulation and the composition of the frames of the complex facades of some Art Nouveau buildings, which could create significant and singular connections between architectural structure and natural environment, the individual building and its surrounding urban context.

Unfortunately in some cases the interventions changed the composition and configuration of the facades and sometimes they led to destructions and massive renovations that also included ferronnerie elements, causing the loss of essence and identity of the building and putting in serious discussion the well-known issue of authenticity.

Therefore, I’m going to examinate some significant cases; analizying in particular some significant houses, built by Victor Horta, in a period when the nation was living one of the most lively moments of its cultural development.

Parole chiave/Key-words: facciate/facade, Art Nouveau, restauro/restoration- Belgio/Belgium