European Art Nouveau buildings, seen through the lens of master photographer Keiichi Tahara, can appear suspended, as if in midflight—caught between a 19th century enriched and obsessed by exploration in faraway lands on one side and the rapid rise of new technologies and construction materials on the other. This rare, fin-de-siècle nexus yielded architectural masterpieces that nod to concepts as complex as their façades: from Freudian psychoanalysis and the natural world to hard-nosed philosophical and political advance.
The work of Tahara (who died in June, at the age of 65), from in front of and within these dreamlike environments, has been collected in a substantial new volume, Keiichi Tahara: Architecture Fin-de-Siècle (Taschen, $300). A product of the photographer’s travels throughout Europe, the book, written by Riichi Miyake, features several of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture by the likes of Antoni Gaudí, Victor Horta, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Indeed, few, if any, other photographers have been able to so adequately capture the distinctive architectural style’s interplay of organic detailing, cavernous interiors, elegant fixtures, and elaborate, sweeping central features.
Here, AD gets an exclusive first look at images from the forthcoming title.
Otto Wagner, Mietshaus Linke Wienzeile 38, Vienna, Austria, 1898–99.
Victor Horta, Maison et Atelier Horta, Brussels, Belgium, 1898–1900.
Joseph Maria Olbrich, Hochzeitsturm, Darmstadt, Germany, 1905–08.
Àrmin Hegedüs, Artur Sebestyén & Izidor Sterk Gellért Gyógyfürdö És Szállóda (Gellért Therapeutic Bath and Hotel), Budapest, Hungary, 1911–18.
Otto Wagner, Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, Austria, 1902–04.
Josef Hoffmann, Sanatorium, Purkersdorf, Austria, 1904.
Henri Robert & Robert Belli, Crematorium, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 1908–09.
Unknown architect, Ursuline Institute, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, Belgium, 1900.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hill House, Helensburgh, Scotland, 1902–04.
Otto Wagner, Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, Austria, 1902–04.
Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona, Spain, 1905–08.
Giovanni Michelazzi, Villino Broggi-Caraceni, Florence, Italy, 1910–11.
Giovanni Michelazzi, Villino Broggi-Caraceni, Florence, Italy, 1910–11.
Giulio Ulisse Arata, Palazzo Berri-Meregalli, Milan, Italy, 1911–19.
Otto Wagner, Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, Austria, 1902–04.
Flóris Korb & Kálmán Giergl, Zeneakadémia (Ferenc Liszt Music Academy), Budapest, Hungary, 1904–07.
