Sunday, June 15, 2008

"Blue Secession" Architecture

This architectural style, which Barbara informed me was called Blue Secession, was quite striking.  It seemed to be concentrated in one area of downtown Bratislava.
  

















Apparently blue secession architectural style is a Hungarian derivation of a wider Art Nouveau style known as the Vienna Secession.  (Artist Gustav Klimt was part of this movement.)  Obviously the Blue Secession is so titled because the buildings are... blue.  














The Vienna Secession was a wide-spread Central European aesthetic movement taking place around the turn of the last century.  The Blue Secession buildings I saw in Bratislava were dated to circa 1910.

The Secession did not have one defining style, but instead combined those which aimed to explore artistic possibilities outside the academic tradition.  


















This particular church is the Church of St. Elizabeth, and is alternately known as the Blue Church.  I thought it was really neat.  How often do you see buildings which are entirely blue?  Especially in Bratislava, where the dominating colors are yellow/orange/red/brown derivatives?



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jess, I love the blue architecture. It is so pleasant to look at. Your apartment's courtyard is also very inviting and I am glad that you get to spend some time there. I am really enjoying your photographs and learning about Amsterdam. Enjoy...M.A.