Brussels can be our little secret Never mind the bureaucratic connotations – Brussels has wonderful art nouveau buildings and decadence galore, writes Jeanette Farrell

First-time visitors are often struck by the great melange of styles that make up the city's streets, where multistory art deco rubs up against art nouveau, modernist and contemporary buildings, and this is a huge part of its charm - it wears its history so well. Though his buildings are often t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Irish times
Main Author Farrell, Jeanette
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dublin The Irish Times Ltd 21.04.2018
Subjects
Architecture
Art Nouveau
Hotels & motels
Museums
Surrealism
Belgium
China
Japan
Europe
India
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Summary:First-time visitors are often struck by the great melange of styles that make up the city's streets, where multistory art deco rubs up against art nouveau, modernist and contemporary buildings, and this is a huge part of its charm - it wears its history so well. Though his buildings are often thought of as follies, intensely luxurious structures that require years to complete, his understanding of the malleable capabilities of steel and glass has seen them take their place amongst the canon of Europe's great architectural works. At 13 floors it's a lesson in luxury: tulips line the William Morris silk wallpaper, and the sun shines through coloured glass encased in French stone; it is simply spectacular - whether art nouveau is your cup of tea or not - for the sheer craftsmanship of it.