Sensual buildings: Seeing Art in a whole Nouveau way
Buildings designed in the Art Nouveau style are among the most beautiful and ornate ever constructed. Featuring highly stylized decorative elements both inside and out, these
sensual structures from the 19th to early 20th century combinegraceful curves with strong lines, floral themes, asymmetrical compositions, and both neo-Gothic and Oriental
influences.
Japanese photographer Keiichi Tahara’s images offer a personal anddramatic view of Art Nouveau’s remaining architectural marvels throughout
Europe. With an eye for eerie details, Tahara captures the extraordinary balustrades, painted ceilings, sculptural elements, stained-glass windows that make up these elaborate, almost
animate, structures. His chosen buildings showcase the work of dozens of architects, including the movement’s well-known protagonistsGaudí, Horta, Hoffmann, Loos, and
Mackintosh. Text by Riichi Miyake accompanies Tahara’s pictures to describe the buildings’ floor plans and designs.
Text in English, French, and German
