As an art, art nouveau first sprung up and popularized in the Maison de l'Art Nouveau in a Paris art gallery owned by a Frenchman named Siegfried Bing. It was characteried as a contemporary form of art distanced from the formalized concepts of classical art.

History and concepts

It soon became widespread all over Europe, as it was incorporated in architecture well away during the 1800s. The movement flourished entirely during 1890 and 1914. In the realms of architecture, it is comprised with the use of hyperbolas and parabolas. All these can be seen in windows, arches and doors.

Moldings are also done as a form of decoration in the form and style derived from plants. As a style employed in architecture, it borrows and revives the styles found in the Victorian era. The style itself is based from a wide range of concepts from the Rococo and also found inspiration in nature such as the abstract images of plants and insects.

Distinctions of the style

When it comes to how art nouveau is distinguished in architecture, buildings usually have these said features:

• curved or stained glass
• the use of arches and curved forms and shapes
• assymetrical shapes
• plant-like features that are usually curved
• use of Japanese motifs
• employment of mosaics in design

Other terms for art nouveau

As the style itself spread all across Europe, it has been given different names just as it has undergone several phases. Below are the names known to each if the European countries below.

• Art Noven in Spain
• Stile Liberty in Italy
• Style Nouille or Style Modrne in France
• Sezession in Austria
• Jugendstil in Germany

Examples of buildings with this style

• Antoni Gaudi's Parque Guell in Barcelona, Spain
• Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler's The Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri
• Otto Wagner's Majolika Haus in Vienna, Austria
• Willaim Holabird and Martin Roche along with Coydon Purdy's The Marquette Building in Chicago, Illinois
• Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic