Brussels (AFP)

In Brussels, a mansion emblematic of Art Nouveau, considered a masterpiece by architect Victor Horta, is now open to the public to help people rediscover "the beauty" of the Belgian capital despite the pandemic.

"It is perhaps even more important in times of Covid to be able to spend a relaxed moment in the middle of this total beauty", smiles (behind his mask) Pascal Smet, Secretary of State for Heritage in the executive of the region from Brussels.

This elected representative of the capital acts as a guide that day for a handful of journalists in the Hôtel Solvay.

And he uses the adjective "total" on purpose to describe this three-story mansion, with its majestic stairwell where natural light enters through a multicolored stained-glass window.

Built by Horta between 1895 and 1903 for a son of the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay, the place has preserved, in their original version, the full range of the achievements of the master of Art Nouveau.

Who designed the (visible) structure of the building but also designed the furniture of the living rooms, radiators and door handles included.

"This gives the feeling of the perfect building, everything has been thought out down to the smallest detail", continues Pascal Smet in this yellow-orange-beige decor where the warm color of the armchairs matches that of the woodwork.

Unesco inscribed the Solvay Hotel on the list of its world heritage in the early 2000s.

According to the United Nations organization, it is "the most ambitious and spectacular work of Horta that has come down to us from the Art Nouveau period", a style which at the end of the 19th century revolutionized architecture with its aesthetics of curves, applied to materials new at the time (glass and steel).

- "Saved from demolition" -

The mansion has had an eventful history after the death of its first owner in 1930.

Damaged by a German bomb during WWII (the main stained-glass window had to be rebuilt), it was "saved from demolition" at the end of the 1950s, when a couple running a haute couture house decided to buy it back. make it his workshop.

At the time, Avenue Louise, the wide boulevard where the building is located, saw the proliferation of large office buildings, and Art Nouveau buildings were even threatened by developers, assures the current owner, Alexandre Wittamer, grandson of the couple.

"It seems difficult to imagine but in the years 50-60 in Brussels everything was authorized, and it happened that Art Nouveau buildings were demolished, whether they were from Horta or other architects", says this forty-something. , executive in finance, who now organizes the visits.

For now, this architectural gem will only be accessible on Thursdays and Saturdays, provided you have previously reserved a time slot on the internet ().

This is the principle applied by all Belgian museums, which remained open despite the pandemic.

In the absence of foreign tourists (not welcome at the moment), the Brussels region, a financial partner, is playing the card of national customers and of the "beautiful building unknown to the people of Brussels", according to Mr Smet.

Since the 80s, after the end of the sewing activity, the Solvay Hotel was used for private events and was only visited on rare occasions such as Heritage Days.

The former personal home of Victor Horta (1861-1947) where he also had his workshop, not far away, became a museum in 1969.

mad / fmi / ahe

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