Former Wolfers Frères Store
Address Rue d’Arenberg 11
City/Neighborhood Brussels
Style(s)
- Floral Art Nouveau
Original use
- Workshop / Artist's house
- Offices
- Shop
- Exhibition hall
Année 1912
Architect(s) and/or artist(s)
- Horta Victor
Remarkable elements
- Ironwork
- Art painting
- Carpentry
A vast complex comprising a luxurious store at street level, offices and jewelry and goldsmithing workshops at the rear, and a staff apartment on the top floor.
The entire complex was commissioned by Philippe Wolfers from Victor Horta in 1909.
The imposing façade spans seven bays and four levels and consists of a ground floor clad in Swedish granite, housing large display windows and a central entrance.
The lintel bore the Wolfers Frères sign (now gone).
In the late Art Nouveau style, the façade is characterized by asymmetry, offsets, moldings and sculpted stonework framing the windows, and the whiplash ironwork favored by Horta.
An offset bow window runs the full height of the building and occupies the right-hand bay.
The top floor features an elegant open gallery with columns topped by curved capitals.
The shop's interior, furnished with Honduran mahogany, was fortunately dismantled in 1974, preserved at the Royal Museums of Art and History, and has been fully reconstructed. It can be visited in a new wing dedicated to Art Nouveau. See here
BRU99 - Unless otherwise stated © www.admirable-artnouveau.be for all photos