Villa Bloemenwerf

{{Short description|Historic Art Nouveau house in Brussels, Belgium}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Villa Bloemenwerf

| native_name =

| image = Villa Bloemenwerf (front).JPG

| caption =

| former_names =

| alternate_names =

| map_type =

| building_type =

| architectural_style = Arts and Crafts

| structural_system =

| cost =

| address = {{lang|fr|Avenue Vanderaey|italic=no}} / {{lang|nl|Vanderaeylaan|italic=no}} 102

| location_town = 1180 Uccle, Brussels-Capital Region

| location_country = Belgium

| client = Henry Van de Velde

| owner =

| current_tenants =

| landlord =

| coordinates = {{coord|50|47|44.9|N|4|20|36.3|E|type:landmark_region:BE_scale:10000|display=inline,title}}

| altitude =

| start_date = {{end date|1895}}

| completion_date = {{end date|1896}}

| inauguration_date =

| demolition_date =

| height =

| diameter =

| other_dimensions =

| floor_count =

| floor_area =

| main_contractor =

| architect = Henry Van de Velde

| structural_engineer =

| services_engineer =

| civil_engineer =

| other_designers =

| quantity_surveyor =

| awards =

| references =

}}

The Villa Bloemenwerf{{Cite web |title=Villa Bloemenwerf – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural |url=https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/Uccle/Avenue_Vanderaey/102/28020 |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=monument.heritage.brussels |language=fr}} ({{IPA|nl|ˈblumə(ɱ)ʋɛr(ə)f|lang}}) is the former residence of the Belgian painter, architect and interior designer Henry van de Velde, built in 1895. It is located at 102, {{lang|fr|avenue Vanderaey|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Vanderaeylaan|italic=no}} in the Uccle municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Van de Velde designed the house and its interior, as well as the furnishings, partially drawing inspiration from William Morris' Red House in Bexleyheath, London.{{cite book|title=Art Nouveau in Fin-de-siècle France|author=Debora Silverman|pages=272|publisher=University of California Press|year=1992|isbn=0-520-08088-2}} Maria Sèthe, his future wife, designed the garden surrounding the house.Henry Van de Velde, Récit de ma vie: Anvers, Bruxelles, Paris, Berlin I. 1863–1900, ed. Anne Van Loo (Bruxelles; Paris: Versa; Flammarion, 1992), 289.

History

The Villa Bloemenwerf, built in 1895, was Henry Van de Velde's first creation as an architect.{{cite book |last=Sachar |first=Brian |date=1984 |title=An Atlas of European Architecture|publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold |page=[https://archive.org/details/atlasofeuropeana0000sach/page/27 27] |isbn=978-0-4422-8149-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/atlasofeuropeana0000sach/page/27}}{{cite book |last=Champigneulle |first=Bernard |date=1976 |title=Art Nouveau|publisher=Barron's Educational Series |pages=115, 121 |isbn=978-0-8120-5111-7}} The exterior of the house was inspired by the Red House in Bexleyheath, south-east London, the residence of the British writer and theorist William Morris, the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement. Trained as a painter, Van de Velde turned to illustration, then to furniture design, and finally to architecture. For the Villa Bloemenwerf, he created the textiles, wallpaper, silverware, jewellery, and even clothing, that matched the style of the residence.Cite web [https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=326&l=en&id=5356 Unesco website] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200528224848/http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=326&l=en&id=5356 |date=28 May 2020}}

The Villa Bloemenwerf was Van de Velde's private residence (with his wife Maria Sèthe and their child) and served as a workshop for him and his collaborators, as well as a centre for meetings with the European intellectual and artistic elite of the time. Van de Velde left the Bloemenwerf and Brussels for Weimar, Germany, in 1900.

File:Henry van de Velde - Chair - 1895.jpg