Art Nouveau and Eclecticism in the mansion designed by Ernesto Korrodi for the Bouhon family

Abstract

In the early twentieth century, Interior Design resulted from the work of architects, decorators, painters and carvers. Although then integrated into the world of decorative arts, we believe that already existed as a profession regulated by a coherent network design principles and the understanding of interior space as global web of relationships established between plans, ornament, lighting and furniture solutions. At the end of the previous century, before the need for a reform of industrial training, the Portuguese Government opened a tender for hiring of foreign teachers. We emphasize the role of Ernesto Korrodi (1870-1944). His works arise from an attitude paradoxically modern and eclectic, leaning one hand on a reinterpretation of solutions referenced in the medieval period or the Renaissance, on the other, based on formulas from Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau or Secession. In his projects certain rooms and hierarchies remain, but these are intersect with the needs aroused by technical innovations, which causes an attempt to answer to the emergence of new functions and features in the house, along with the hygienists demands of the moment. This article consists in the analysis of Bouhon home, located in the city of Covilhã, Portugal. If Art Nouveau is visible in the elevations, inside we find a cleaner space, marked by decorative notes which we can find in tiles and embedded in the stucco or coffered ceilings. The ornament thus contributes to the dignity of the walls, wainscots and ceiling plans, assuming a key role in the spatial composition.