DOI Heft:
Nr. 164 (October, 1910)
DOI Artikel:Khnopff, Fernand: The Brussels Exhibition, [1]: some furnished interiors$nElektronische Ressource
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19867#0407
The Brussels Exhibition
THE BRUSSELS EXHIBITION: I. environment. Germany alone has set an example
SOME FURNISHED INTERIORS. in th's respect. This country, as has been very
BY FERNAND KHNOPFF. rightly remarked, " in bringing together on ' German
soil' her machines, her sumptuary arts, and her
In the organisation of universal exhibitions it arts of design—that is to say, in giving an oppor-
is in the nature of a tradition to erect vast tunity for forming a synoptic judgment of these as
palaces, with huge porticoes leading into inter- the expressions of a certain mental status, has
minable colonnades, and with immense galleries shown particularly that every intellectual mani-
capped with excessively ornate decorative devices, festation ought, if it is to have its full effect, to
The whole effect of such constructions is purely be presented in its proper milieu and maintain its
external; in their totality they are merely facades, relative value."
and often enough the extravagance of conception The German section, which from its isolated
to which they bear witness is equalled only by the position at a considerable distance from the scene
incoherence of the realisation. of last month's conflagration was happily not
Let me hasten to affirm that nothing of this involved in that disaster, is installed in build-
kind could be alleged of the beautiful palace which, ings of its own, designed by German architects and
until that ill-fated Sunday last month when it carried out by German contractors and German
perished with practically all its treasures in the workmen. Thus the German section, with its
flames, formed the principal building of the nine halls, its German pavilion (Deutsches Haus),
Universal Exhibition or-
ganised by the Belgian
Government. This palace, ^^^^■HHMK^B^BIIHHEHHHBHHHIHHHHHH^^^^^^^^M
the design of which eman-
ated from the eminent
Brussels architect, M.
Ernest Acker, was indeed
a work of most refined
taste; its long fagade in
the Classic style run-
ning parallel with the Bois
de la Cambre, and its B|j^^flHr HBofl
elegant lineaments and
dainty decoration harmo-
nised perfectly with the
sylvan scenery of the im-
mediate neighbourhood.
Given the style selected
by the architect, the con-
ditions imposed could not
have been better fulfilled
in the circumstances.
At the same time it B__^ ■ Wt'-" ' JjgfiMHlk-' 111
must be acknowledged i»Flrj8r : ' ..IrPfiPy*™ iiiM
that the galleries which KBkrNBSK^HS^I
these facades encompassed HSmlfiflriiS
had one principal defect:
the uniformity of setting
to which the various
nations invited to partici-
pate had perforce to
submit their products
left them no scope for
displaying themselves in a c0rnbr in the ladies room of the German pavilion (deutsches haus),
" ° . brussels exhibition. designed by prof. emanuel von seidl. executed
the intimacy of a national by ballin's hofmobel-fabrik, Munich
308
THE BRUSSELS EXHIBITION: I. environment. Germany alone has set an example
SOME FURNISHED INTERIORS. in th's respect. This country, as has been very
BY FERNAND KHNOPFF. rightly remarked, " in bringing together on ' German
soil' her machines, her sumptuary arts, and her
In the organisation of universal exhibitions it arts of design—that is to say, in giving an oppor-
is in the nature of a tradition to erect vast tunity for forming a synoptic judgment of these as
palaces, with huge porticoes leading into inter- the expressions of a certain mental status, has
minable colonnades, and with immense galleries shown particularly that every intellectual mani-
capped with excessively ornate decorative devices, festation ought, if it is to have its full effect, to
The whole effect of such constructions is purely be presented in its proper milieu and maintain its
external; in their totality they are merely facades, relative value."
and often enough the extravagance of conception The German section, which from its isolated
to which they bear witness is equalled only by the position at a considerable distance from the scene
incoherence of the realisation. of last month's conflagration was happily not
Let me hasten to affirm that nothing of this involved in that disaster, is installed in build-
kind could be alleged of the beautiful palace which, ings of its own, designed by German architects and
until that ill-fated Sunday last month when it carried out by German contractors and German
perished with practically all its treasures in the workmen. Thus the German section, with its
flames, formed the principal building of the nine halls, its German pavilion (Deutsches Haus),
Universal Exhibition or-
ganised by the Belgian
Government. This palace, ^^^^■HHMK^B^BIIHHEHHHBHHHIHHHHHH^^^^^^^^M
the design of which eman-
ated from the eminent
Brussels architect, M.
Ernest Acker, was indeed
a work of most refined
taste; its long fagade in
the Classic style run-
ning parallel with the Bois
de la Cambre, and its B|j^^flHr HBofl
elegant lineaments and
dainty decoration harmo-
nised perfectly with the
sylvan scenery of the im-
mediate neighbourhood.
Given the style selected
by the architect, the con-
ditions imposed could not
have been better fulfilled
in the circumstances.
At the same time it B__^ ■ Wt'-" ' JjgfiMHlk-' 111
must be acknowledged i»Flrj8r : ' ..IrPfiPy*™ iiiM
that the galleries which KBkrNBSK^HS^I
these facades encompassed HSmlfiflriiS
had one principal defect:
the uniformity of setting
to which the various
nations invited to partici-
pate had perforce to
submit their products
left them no scope for
displaying themselves in a c0rnbr in the ladies room of the German pavilion (deutsches haus),
" ° . brussels exhibition. designed by prof. emanuel von seidl. executed
the intimacy of a national by ballin's hofmobel-fabrik, Munich
308