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The home and studio of the great maestro of Art Nouveau architecture, Victor Horta, serves as a master-class in the form (see Musée Horta, Brussels).

Designed by Victor Horta in 1893–5, this is considered the first Art Nouveau house. Up to this point, the well-to-do who commissioned new private mansions in the mushrooming Belgian suburbs adopted any style going: Moorish, Medieval, Tuscan, whatever. Horta extrapolated from this “eclectic” style to evolve something more integrated and considered. The private mansion of a bachelor engineer, Hôtel Tassel was carefully tailored to all aspects of his lifestyle, but this individualized approach also made it less adaptable for subsequent owners.

Behind a façade combining geometric shapes with dreamy Art Nouveau murals lies the home of little-known painter Paul Cauchie (1875–1952).

Art Nouveau tended toward excess, and this accusation might certainly be levelled at this house – all loops and curves, with a circular picture window on the top floor. It was designed for painter Saint-Cyr in 1900.

Swathes of Art Nouveau mansions were cleared from Brussels when the style fell from favour. Hôtel Hannon, built in 1902, is a rarity because some of the internal decorations have survived – and also because the public can gain access to the interior.

The artist Albert Ciamberlani (1864–1956) was responsible for the huge mural in the triumphal colonnade of the Cinquantenaire building. He employed Paul Hankar (1859–1901), a key Art Nouveau architect, to build his house and studio in 1897. The façade combines iron, stone and brick to deliver a highly individual decorative effect.

Art Nouveau was also called “Style Liberty”, after the famous London store. Brussels’ “Old England” store was named to echo this vogue. The building now houses the Museum of Musical Instruments (see Musée des Instruments de Musique).

Victor Horta designed the Magasins Wauquez, a textile shop, in 1903. Rescued in the 1970s, it has found new life as the famous comic-strip museum (see Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée).

Le Falstaff, a famous restaurant and drinking palace opposite the Bourse in the heart of Brussels, dates from 1903, and still powerfully evokes the era in which it was created. The interior is rich in Art Nouveau detail, seen in the stained glass, the mirrors, the lamp fittings and the furniture (see Le Falstaff).

“Ultimate Hallucination” might be a good description of some of the more extravagant examples of Art Nouveau design. The dining room of this celebrated establishment offers a rare opportunity to eat in an authentic Art Nouveau setting (see De Ultieme Hallucinatie).