Majolikahaus, Vienna (Austria)

Charming Majolikahaus, or Majolica House, shapes the left of the two adjacent apartment Linke Wienzeile Buildings standing on the north side of the namesake main street in the Mariahilf (district), central Vienna in Austria.

Occupying No 40, the edifice was designed and raised in 1898 by prominent Austrian architect and urban planner Otto Wagner on the lines of the Vienna Secession style that he so passionately advocated against the long prevalent historicist trend in the Austrian capital in his time.

The building owes its name to its entirely majolica (lead-glazed earthware tiles) laid façade that is bursting with floral motifs and vibrant colours, designed by Wagner’s student Alois Ludwig, while it features colourful wrought iron balconies beautifully nestled on either far side.

Detail of the top of Majolica House

Aveiro Railway Station, Aveiro (Portugal)

The charming Art Nouveau-styled old Aveiro Railway Station (Estação de Aveiro in Portoguese) was inaugurated in April 1864 and is located in the city of Aveiro in the namesake Região (region), northwest central Portugal.

The edifice features a fascinating façade adorned with tiles in blue and yellow shades that display traditional and regional themes such as the Palace Hotel do Bussaco, Rio Vouga, the old Monastery of Jesus (modern Museum of Aveiro) and local fishermen in Moliceiros (boats).

A three-floor central segment dictates the design flanked by two lower sections either side that offer symmetry to the structure.

Château de Val, Lanobre, virtual tour

Gellért Baths, Budapest (Hungary)

The Gellért Baths (Gellért gyógyfürdő in Hungarian), also called the Gellért Thermal Bath, shapes a magnificent bath complex that is integrated into the noted Hotel Gellért situated on the west bank of the Danube in Buda, the old capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and western half of Budapest.

The effervescent swimming pool

Gellért the name of the first bishop of Hungary (Gerard of Csanád, c. 977 – 1046 AD), the bath complex was built between 1912 and 1918 in the Hungarian Secession (Art Nouveau) style on the site of an earlier Turkish baths laid out in the 16th century under the name ‘Sárosfürdő’ during the time of the Ottoman Empire.

The latter name spells ‘muddy baths’ due to the mineral mud settled at the bottom of the pools against the modern second component of ‘gyógyfürdő’ conveying ‘thermal/medical baths’ come to that.

Opened in 1918, the complex expanded into an outdoor wave pool in 1927 and a glass-domed thermal bath in 1934 in the hotel’s old Winter Garden but the women’s section suffered heavy damage during bombardments towards the end of World War II.

Following a long wait due to financial circumstances, the thermal bath was eventually redesigned and the complex underwent a wholesale reconstruction in 2008, restored to its former splendour.

The main hall, featuring a gallery and a glass roof above, and the effervescent swimming pool (picture) are probably the highlights of the complex which also lines up thermal baths, supplied with water from Gellért Hill’s mineral hot springs, as well as plunge pools and a Finnish sauna.

Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, virtual tour

Casa Fuster, Barcelona

The fabulous Casa Fuster, constructed between 1908 and 1911, is located on the upper end of the Jardins de Salvador Espriu and the prominent Passeig de Gracia in the affluent district of Eixample, central east Barcelona.

It represents architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s last work in the city, in tandem with his son Pere Domènech i Roure, that was fashioned on account of wealthy Mallorcan Mariano Fuster as a hefty gift to his wife Consol Fabra.

The edifice applies a subtle neo-Gothic touch to its modernista frame and features two façades bound through a cylindrical turret on the southwest corner as well as characteristic pink columns, trilobate windows and floral motifs shaping a fine example of Catalan Modernism.

Largely refurbished in 2004, it has been converted and operating since as a luxury hotel containing as many as a good 105 rooms.

Gros-Horloge, Rouen (Normandy, France)

The pride of Rouen, Normandy, the astronomical Gros Horloge (meaning ‘the Big Clock’) hangs on a magnificent Renaissance towered archway that spans the namesake cobbled pedestrian thoroughfare of Rue du Gros-Horloge (facing southeast in the picture) at the heart of the city.

The works of the clock actually date way back started off by Jourdain del Leche but wound up by Jean de Felain, the former lacking the necessary expertise for such an undertaking, in 1389 before eventually being relocated to its current setting in 1529.

Originally without a dial, it possesses a single hand that marks the hours while its movement is cast in wrought iron and it measures about 2.5m in diameter, displaying two faces either side of the arch each showing 24 golden sun rays in a blue starred sky.

It further contains a separate hand that indicates the weeks below whilst the oculus on top displays the moon phases, a 30cm wide fitted sphere completing a full rotation in 29 days within, and was powered with electricity since the 1920s.

The Throne Room, Royal Palace of Caserta (Italy)

The magnificent Throne Room (Sala del Trono) was the very last to be completed in 1845, nearly a century since construction of the palace itself commenced (1751), during the reign of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies at the Reggia di Caserta (Royal Palace of Caserta), Campania in southern Italy.

It measures 40m long and is located on the Royal Floor carved out under the direction of architect Gaetano Genovese in the final stages, with the fresco on the vault furnished by Gennaro Maldarelli, on the occasion of the Congress of Science, held in Naples that final year (1845).

Looking into Château de Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire (France)

Hôtel Solvay, Brussels (Belgium)

The Hôtel Solvay is an imposing large mansion that is situated on the major thoroughfare of Avenue Louise (Louizalaan in Dutch) in Ixelles (Elsene in Dutch), south central Brussels in Belgium.

It was designed by Belgian architect Victor Horta and built between 1898 and 1900 on account of wealthy chemist Armand Solvay, hence the name, in the Art Nouveau style.

Solvay spared no pains as regards his future home and afforded Horta full latitude over the design and materials required, the latter’s stamp evident down to the furniture, tableware, carpets and even the very doorbell.

The edifice and most of its content was salvaged from demolition and decay courtesy of the Wittamer family, who acquired the property to set up their haute couture, in the 1950s.