Hôtel van Eetvelde: façade

Perhaps the most modern of Horta’s house fa�ades is that of the H�tel van Eetvelde (1895-97), which employed a rational iron frame decorated with mosaic panels bordered by free-flowing ‘whiplash’ lines. The luxurious interior, replete with marbles and gilt bronze, features a staircase and landings wrapped around a double-height octagonal hall near the centre of the plan. A shallow glass dome, which is supported by elliptical arches above a circle of iron columns, lights the hall; across the dome, long, leaf-like tendrils of coloured glass continue the sinuous curves of the structure below.