AVENUE REINE ASTRID / N°144

"Villa Emma". This house, built in 1855 and surrounded by a pretty garden lined with light green painted railings, offers an Art Nouveau décor brought in on the initiative of the mother of the Liège poet Félix BERNARD. Horizontal bands of glazed ceramic decorated with tulips with sinuous foliage emphasise the levels. An elegant veranda is attached to the left gable. Characteristic of the Art Nouveau style, ceramics partially or sometimes completely cover certain facades. These tiles are either specially created for a building or are produced in a standardised way, so that they can be chosen and assembled according to the models in the catalogues of the craft firms that produce them. The entrance door has interesting joinery with decorative wrought iron elements. In the centre of the facade, the loggia supported by metal brackets is framed by columns around which ivy wraps. The remarkable wrought iron armrests on the upper floor windows bear witness to the quality of the craftsman's work and the influence of the plant world in Art Nouveau ironwork.