Art Nouveau - European Style in Georgia’s Architecture

The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 caused the ancient Christian country of Georgia to lose its close contacts with Europe for several centuries. Having grown weak because of continuous defensive wars, in 1801 Georgia allied herself with Russia and due to strong and developed historical status in the Caucasus, as well as its central geographical location, Georgia became the political-administrative center of Transcaucasia, the southern part of the Russian Empire. The 19th century was a turning point in Georgia’s economic and cultural life. Some essential events took place in architecture: the Tbilisi apartment house became established, which “like other apartment houses in the rest of Georgia of that time can be regarded as a certain developmental stage of Georgian architecture.” 1 In the middle of the 19th century buildings of mixed European styles with eclectic façades were spread and in the last decade of the century several houses in the so-called “Georgian style” were built. The façades of the latter were adorned with ornamental elements characteristic of Georgian architecture of the Middle Ages. In these cases, more important and essential was that fact itself rather than the building; on the one hand, “it was a statement made to show the national existence, national impulse and what is more significant such statement was made in the capital city, where the Georgians didn’t feel like hosts any more during long time.” 2 On the other hand, it showed that local professionals and skilled workmen were ready to begin a true creative process, which was very soon proved through the establishment of Art Nouveau architecture. Some prerequisites for establishment of Art Nouveau in Europe were created by the English “Arts and Crafts Movement,” which occurred in the middle of 19th century. The poet and architect William Morris headed the movement. 3 He was against total industrialization and intended to make craftsmanship one of the art fields. Because of late arrival of capitalism and the weak economy of Georgia, the art of skilled workers and craftsmen continued to be needed for a longer period of time than in Europe. These workers, according to their qualifications, used to join to different guilds (amqari) of craftspeople. Because of the intensity of the building process and the growth in demand for skilled workers, the guilds for building craftsmen survived for an especially for a long time, up to the first decade of the 20th century. 4 William Morris, alarmed at rapid industrialization in the middle of 19th century, could only have dreamed of the situation which existed in Georgia at that time. The new style established in Europe by the late 19th century went under various names in various nations: Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Sezession, Liberty etc. In Georgia the style was called “Modern.” Information about Art Nouveau arrived in Georgia from Russia and Europe via the shortest route, the Black Sea. Art Nouveau expanded rapidly through different kind of publications: professional, popular and fashion magazines, and photos and through people who came to work or to study in the country. In Georgia Art Nouveau buildings were constructed not only in the capital but also in many towns, among them Gagra, Sokhumi, Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi, Kobuleti, and Dusheti. The first fourth were ports; the fifth, an industrial town; and the last were resorts. But Dusheti, the small administrative center of a mountainous region in Eastern Georgia, with its Art Nouveau-style apartment house, proved that this style really was very popular in our country. One illustration of this popularity is the Art Nouveau décor used to adorn wooden balconies of the houses in Racha, one of the mountainous region of Western Georgia, which is famous for its folk architecture. 5