The 'everything artist'

Henry van de Velde, born 150 years ago in Antwerp, was one of the most influential architects and designers of the 20th century. His work spanned from buildings to clothing to letter openers, and he is considered a forerunner of Bauhaus. "Alleskünstler" (literally, "everything artist") is the title of the year-long event in Germany's Saxony and Thuringia celebrating his life's work.

Henry van de Velde was born on April 3, 1863 in Antwerp in Belgium. His family wanted him to become a lawyer. But he had no interest in wading through legal textbooks and enrolled instead in Antwerp's academy of art in 1880. Vincent van Gogh was his inspiration when it came to painting, but interior design and architecture soon interested him even more.

Van de Velde began focusing less on painting and more on applied arts. He quickly made a name for himself and started designing homes in Berlin, Hagen and Paris. His first architectural project was the Villa Esche in Chemnitz. He designed every detail, from the floor plan right down to the silverware. In Germany, his work largely centered around the city of Weimar.

He came to Weimar in 1902 to become a consultant at the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School. He started a seminar for artistic handicrafts, became director of the school and designed its buildings, which were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1995. Van de Velde wanted his students to learn both artistic and handicraft skills - a concept that made him a forerunner to the Bauhaus movement.

Purpose and aesthetic are one, wrote Henry van de Velde in his memoirs. No wonder, then, that in 1907 he co-founded the Werkbund, an organization that brought artists together with industrialists. He supported handicraft businesses and manufacturing companies with their designs. It was van de Velde's sketches that helped pottery workshops in Bürgel in central Germany make a name for themselves.

Van de Velde greatly admired philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Both were convinced that the individual is capable of changing a society. The designer was a friend of Nietzsche's sister, who commissioned him to create the Nietzsche Archive in Weimar in 1902. It was established in the house where the philosopher had spent the last years of his life.

Many of van de Velde's works have been changed over time and separated from their original purpose. The residence of industrialist Paul Schulenburg in Gera later housed a school for nuns and then stood empty for several years after German reunification in 1990. Since 1996, the current owners have been rebuilding it according to its original blue prints.

Henry van de Velde conceptualized all of the furnishings in Haus Schulenberg and in many other buildings. He not only designed the furniture, but even details as minute as umbrella stands. He saw his work as one comprehensive piece of art, in which each element was a tiny but carefully coordinated part of the whole. His style focused on function and refrained from unnecessary ornamentation.

Van de Velde didn't only work on commission, he also designed Haus Hohe Pappeln as his personal retreat, where he lived with his wife and five children. The rooms were clearly structured and designed to follow the path of the sun. The house became a meeting place for artists and intellectuals, including Edvard Munch and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

World War I changed everything for Henry van de Velde. As a Belgian, he was associated with the enemy and felt isolated. In 1914, he gave up his job in Weimar. Few friends remained by his side during this time, but one exception was the Dürckheim family, for whom he had built this villa. During World War I, the lady of the house collected 170,000 marks to keep van de Velde in Weimar.

Nevertheless, there was nothing to keep Henry van de Velde in Germany. In 1917, he left Weimar and first moved to Switzerland. Later, he returned to Belgium. In 1925, he became professor for architecture at the University of Ghent and designed the university's famous Boekentoren tower (pictured). He also designed the Belgian pavilion for the World Fairs in Paris (1937) and New York (1939).

With van de Velde's departure, Weimar lost the man who had dramatically influenced its school of applied arts. He had handpicked his successor before he left: Walter Gropius. Gropius furthered van de Velde's ideas and went on to found Bauhaus in 1919, a movement characterized by functional design for mass production. In 1925, Gropius moved the school to Dessau (pictured).

Henry van de Velde died on October 25, 1957 in Zurich at the age of 94. He brought design and architecture into the modern era and broke down the barrier between art and handicraft. He not only made a name for himself in Europe, but even as far away as Tokyo. A century and a half after his birth, his influence is still evident in contemporary design.