Shop interior L'Art Décoratif Céline Dangotte
This shop interior (a display cabinet, a wall unit with a fireplace, a wall unit with a bench, and a table) was designed by the Ghent architect Albert Van Huffel, commissioned by Céline Dangotte. At the same time, Van Huffel also designed a new monogram for the business.
In the spring of 1914, the 30-year-old Dangotte opened the interior design shop L'Art Décoratif Céline Dangotte at 65 Avenue de la Toison d'Or in Brussels. Two years earlier, she had taken over the shop, then located on Avenue Waterloo, from her late mother. She followed in her mother's footsteps to lead an integrated Arts and Crafts enterprise, in which furniture and decoration were made for and by the people.
In 1914, she herself articulated her vision of this cultural entrepreneurship. According to her, she was driven by her artistic, educational, and rebellious instincts. She expected her employees to take on responsibilities and be loyal.
Her goal was a cooperative enterprise in which loyal employees could share in the profits. The interior of the shop was Van Huffel's first commission in collaboration with Dangotte, with whom he would work regularly from 1914 onwards. In the period 1918–1920, he was even the artistic director of the business, and the Ghent-based Van Huffel moved to Brussels.
Dangotte will also gather other designers around her, such as Mabel Elwes and Oscar Van de Voorde. The store sold furniture (and entire interiors), textiles and other utensils and interior elements, and was also known for its range of ethnic art.
The interior was fitted into an existing building. The furniture, intended to display the merchandise, also demonstrated the style and quality that customers could expect when placing an order. The (built-in) furniture was likely designed as cabinets for textiles.
Victor Horta's Brussels People's House
In 1895, architect Victor Horta was commissioned to build a new people's house in Brussels for the Belgian Workers' Party (founded in 1885) and the Brussels Workers' Cooperative. The Art Nouveau building, opened in 1899, reflected the modernity and progressive ambitions of the young socialist party.
The total work of art, in which exterior and interior harmonized perfectly, was an ingenious construction of exposed iron and glass, decorated with stylized plant motifs and whiplash lines. The building housed a large café, cooperative shops, offices, meeting rooms, a ballroom, and a large terrace. Party gatherings and music and theatrical performances took place in the ballroom on the third floor, with a capacity of 3000 spectators.
In 1965, the Art Nouveau masterpiece on Joseph Stevens Street was demolished to make way for an office building, the Zavel Tower. The building, which no longer met the needs and taste of the party, fell victim to the ruthless drive for modernization in the capital, despite international protests from the architectural community.
The demolition, however, increased general attention and appreciation for the architecture of Victor Horta. Components of the People's House were stored with a view to possible partial reconstruction, but were neglected in the subsequent decades, resulting in deterioration and art theft.
After the exhibition Free thought in iron (1983-1984) remnants of the iconic building ended up in the MIAT in Ghent (today the Industrial Museum). In 2018, about a hundred pieces were transferred to Design Museum Ghent. These mainly consist of balustrades, handrails, columns, consoles, and flagpoles originating from the ballroom, the roof terrace, and the facade.
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To the website of Design Museum Ghent
