For the past century Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings have brightened up the streets of Brussels. The Art Nouveau style was first introduced in Brussels in 1893 when Victor Horta built the Tassel House. This house represents the very first synthesis of Art Nouveau: light, colour, ironwork, mosaics... Architects such as Victor Horta, Paul Hankar and Henry Van de Velde were innovators and created a “total” art style that dominated all art domains until approximately 1914: architecture, furniture, carpets, decorative objects, jewellery, posters... After the First World War, there was a tendency towards more rational trends that gave birth to Art Deco, a style that features geometrical lines and stylised motifs and makes use of both traditional and modern materials.