Palais Stoclet (1905-1911)
Related: 1911 - Gesamtkunstwerk - Josef Hoffman - Gustav Klimt - Art Nouveau
Description
The Palais Stoclet is a mansion built in Brussels, Belgium between 1905 and 1911 for client Adolphe Stoclet. It was designed by architect Josef Hoffmann and is considered by many to be his masterpiece. It was constructed by the Wiener Werkstaette or Viennese Workshop and contained commissioned paintings by Gustav Klimt. This combination of architects, artists, and artisans makes it an example of Gesamtkunstwerk. Please note the contrast of the overall straight architectural lines with the sinuous curves of the Klimt decorations on the wall.--[1]
"The allusions to classicism, visible despite Hoffmann's conscious distortions, locks the building in an ordered and composed whole and places it in a world of lost archetypes: Roman, Flemish, Byzantine. In spite of its domestic forms the object is no longer recognizable in terms of type; located on the margins of a city largely composed of suburbs, more refined than anything most people are accustomed to, the Palais Stoclet, with its rarefied decorations and objets d'art, waits in its park for a silent crowd. Its sumptuous exterior, crowned by Metzner's sculptures, transforms it into an object with no other significance than an architectural one." -- Giuliano Gresleri. Josef Hoffmann. New York: Rizzoli, 1981. p60. via http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Stoclet_Palace.html [Feb 2005]
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