Art Nouveau architecture #1
Art Nouveau as a movement, mostly between 1890 and 1905, was a reaction to the highly structured academic art of the 19th century and the new felt sense of freedom and expression as the "fin de siecle" approached. It influenced all the art forms and manifested in architecture as free form and organic, a more artistic way of using materials and using traditional building elements in an artistic way. It took on slightly different forms in different countries and was particularly big in France, Germany and the future Czech republic. Prague is also well known for many beautiful surviving Art Nouveau buildings. In England it was known as the Arts & Crafts movement championed by the like of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. In Spain (Catalonia) it was Antonio Gaudi's organic style. In Austria it was related to the Vienna secession. Here are some examples from Paris for you...