Units

hortence

hortence is the Research Centre for architectural history, theory and criticism of the Faculty of Architecture La Cambre Horta of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Established in 2008, hortence counts at present more than twenty members. The personality of hortence is characterized by its members – academics, researchers, PhD students and practising architects – who all engage critically with the history and theory of modern and contemporary architecture.

As such, hortence gathers distinct areas of research strength, in particular regarding
‣ heritage studies of 20th-century architecture in Belgium;
‣ the study of mediation in architecture;
‣ the history of architectural theory and criticism;
‣ the study of architectural pedagogies;
‣ research through and by architectural design;
‣ architecture and genre.

hortence also seeks as much as possible to enhance, diffuse and to question its research through the organization of workshops, conferences, colloquia, exhibitions as well as through publications. These activities of research and service to the community reflect the engagement of its members with teaching courses on the history, theory and criticism of architecture; a.o. the research seminar on research methodologies concerning architectural theory, the design studio HTC, and the study groups (“options”) HTC, Restoration and heritage DOCOMOMO and Archives.

Projetcs

Victor Horta and the birth of Art Nouveau : the first analytical and complete study on his chairs (1893-1912)

Nous étudions l'évolution du style et du concept de Victor Horta à l'époque de l'Art Nouveau. Nous choisissons ses sièges comme objet d'analyse. Parce qu'il reste encore plus de 70 modèles selon nos recherches. De plus, ils sont des objets ayant une structure simple et relativement petite, ils ont moins de contraintes par rapport à la construction et aux grands meubles. Ils montrent plus clairement son style et son concept, ils nous permettent de faire des analyses approfondies. En premier lieu, nous analyserons des documents anciens pour dater ses sièges et pour les mettre chronologiquement. Nous mettrons en lumière l'évolution de son style et de son concept en le comparant avec des sièges d'autres architectes.