A Walking Tour Paris

Highly expressive, Art Nouveau was also extremely versatile, being used for architecture, furniture, glass-making, textiles and even street furniture, such as Hector Guimard’s gorgeous metro station entrances. It spawned regional variations, including Germany’s Judendstil, the Secession style in Vienna and even individual geniuses such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow and Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona. Castel Béranger at No. 14 Rue la Fontaine (by Guimard) and No. 29 Avenue Rapp (by Jules Lavirotte) are other excellent examples of this style.

One of the most important cultural events of the 1920s was the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925. Known as Art Deco for short, this was the world’s last total design movement, meaning that its streamlined elegance could be applied just as easily to a cigarette lighter or a luxury liner, or an apartment building or the piano in its penthouse. It was