Art Nouveau in Antwerp

Its principal characteristics in Antwerp buildings include whiplash lines and irregular curves in moldings, ironwork, and incised decoration; gentle arches; colorful ceramic tiles, mosaics, and stained glass; gilded asymmetrical ornament; sgraffito; and keyhole windows and screens.

The greater part of the structures are situated in the so-called "Golden Triangle" of Antwerpian Art Nouveau, along the streets called the Transvaalstraat, Waterloostraat and Cogels Osylei.

The latter, an arterial boulevard, contains a rich cornucopia of highly-ornamented, monumental Victorian- and Edwardian-era architecture, wherein various styles--neoclassical, eclectic, various Renaissance idioms, and above all Art Nouveau--intermingle harmoniously behind small gardens or gates with successive diversity.

Here the nearly-symmetrical façade (broken only by a side tower) is articulated by mosaics bearing the names, figures, and standards of the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon I, along with a strange arrangement of bricks on the uppermost floor.

It is actually a complex of four houses designed for the well-heeled shipbuilder P. Roeis, hence the ship forms and name, which also references Antwerp's longstanding stature as a global port.