Samaritaine
Art Nouveau did not go out of style. Rather, the environment that brought it to life changed forever.
If there is a living being that symbolises exuberance and status, it has to be the peacock. The boastful array of its iridescent feather-eyes has become a symbol of beauty and grace: attributes highly valued in the late 19th-century society. Their most prominent expression is found in the design of buildings and interiors associated with public display of wealth and status.
The peacocks in the glass roof of the Samaritaine department store in Paris stand in perfect symmetry atop a garland of iron and gold. With feather fans on full display, they shimmer like jewels on the bright yellow backdrop of the Art Nouveau freeze, over the commercial floors. A fitting gilded crown to luxury consumerism.
As my eyes follow the lines of iron structure around the freeze and the roof, I realise that it is not in keeping with the same style. The elaborate decorations are expended in the freeze alone, and the surrounding space has little connection with the Art Nouveau style that I am familiar with. It is not carved or intricate. It has none of the asymmetry or whiplash gestures of the cast iron designs in Guimard's metro stations. It is practical and economical.
I notice similar principles to the remainder of the interior, where iron columns and beams are left exposed: their rivets regularly spaced in an unintentional decorative rhythm. In some instances, sculptural scrolls are cast in the iron members: small decorative touches with no structural purpose. They unsuccessfully attempt to soften the rigidity and repetition of the structural parts that are crudely pieced together with rivets and plates.
This is a constant as the structure reaches the perimeter. Where typically Art Nouveau facades hide the skeleton behind ornate stone carvings, the Samaritaine building leaves the structure exposed. The only animation is confined within the borders of the colourful enamel panels, with Art Nouveau graphics framed against the orthogonal rhythm of the facade.
Considering the events unfolding at the turn of the century, a departure from the fluidity of the Art Nouveau is neither accidental nor experimental. It is a deliberate move towards economy and speed. As industrialisation brings a wave of urbanisation and rapid expansion, commercial buildings use the new technology of cast iron structures to respond to the need for large open spaces that could be built rapidly and economically.
In this swiftly evolving world, ornamentation and craftsmanship are dropping lower in the priority order. The transition is slow and gradual: an Art Nouveau interior that is selective in its gestures, or a simplified geometry that retains only the proportions of elegance and refinement. A shift towards an aesthetic minimalism that is cost-driven.
The Art Nouveau style remains an expression of exuberance that requires an environment of very specific (socioeconomic and political) conditions. When these conditions change, styles diminish.
Architecture is a view of history through the mirror. It reveals the events in the background and always manifests the aftermath.
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