Original scientific paper
Emilio Ambrosini’s Art Nouveau Architecture in Rijeka’s main street Korzo
Branko Metzger-Šober
; Akademija primijenjenih umjetnosti, Rijeka
Abstract
The article makes a short introduction to the urban development of Rijeka from the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century as well as to the role of Triestine architects in the construction of the city. At the beginning of the twentieth century one notices the appearance of a new style in Rijeka – Art Nouveau – that rarely occurred in a pure form. It emerged as a compromise between the old – Historicist – and the new – Art Nouveau – style, depending on the openness of the investor. Triestine Emilio Ambrosini was the fi rst architect who brought Art Nouveau elements to Rijeka’s architecture. He was born in Trieste, educated in Graz and achieved professional success in Rijeka. Examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Rijeka originated in his offi ce and the most successful ones on Korzo (Corso) include the Rauschel house (the former Royal Hotel), the Schittar House and the Milcenich-Cerniak House. During their extension, Emilio Ambrosini managed to purify his style, turning them into genuine Art Nouveau houses. This was helped by the fact that the investors wanted the architecture of Rijeka to be more akin to that of Central Europe. Investors who perceived Ambrosini’s work as solid, required innovation in the construction of their buildings as they realized architecture could become a refl ection of their social and political status. In order to demonstrate that they belonged to a new class,
whose members led cosmopolitan lives in discordance with technological developments and social changes in Rijeka, investors encouraged Ambrosini to consider creative solutions for the establishment of a new language in architecture
Keywords
E. Ambrosini; secession; house Schittar; house Milcenihc-Cerniak; hosu Rauschel
Hrčak ID:
199535
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2010.
Visits: 2.570 *