My friend from Florida braved the cold weather and spent New Years with me in the D.C. area. On Friday we visited the United States Botanic Gardens, a warm and lovely place that grows all kinds of plants, from cacti to pineapple plants. I wish I had discovered their lovely holiday decorations earlier. They've been taken down now so you'll have to settle for my pictures.
Many people set up minature villages around the holidays. My mom has a huge village that takes over the house. I look forward to it every year. So imagine my excitement when I saw the Botanic Garden's "village" of important D.C. buildings and monuments made entirely out of plant materials!
Above is the dome (the cupola) of the capitol building. Below is the Smithsonian castle.
Around the Christmas tree, a train wove through a D.C. neighborhood.
The Botanic Garden even housed a fairy land, complete with castle!
Now that's art!
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Calatrava began his career designing bridges and train stations (like the one shown above). He is currently working on a design for a station at the former site of the World Trade Center. The station will remind viewers of a hand releasing a bird.
He has designed many modern-looking buildings that have been constructed throughout the world. I really love the Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden (shown above). If you are from the Milwaukee area you will certainly have see the Milwaukee Art Museum (below).
In Valencia, Spain you will find the City of Arts and Sciences. The city includes five massive and gorgeous buildings designed by Calatrava. The 
One of Gaudi’s buildings, 
One example is the Parque Guell (sounds like: par-kay gwel) by Antonio Gaudi (shown above). Below is a second example, also by Gaudi. It is the Casa Batllo.
They remind me of cartoon castles or bakery cakes. Quite different from the 
The Moors brought their culture with them and their architectural style began to show itself throughout Spain. The Mudejar style is a combination of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish styles. Buildings created in this style were made using inexpensive materials such as brick, tile, and plaster.
What makes these buildings special is the decoration. Often beautifully decorated tile was laid in patterns, wood and plaster was carved into complicated designs, and metals were twisted throughout to glint and gleam in the sunlight.
Go look at the furniture pictures in my post on 
You can spend as much time as you want on your doll house. Maybe design and create one room a day for a week. Don’t forget to make a kitchen, living room, dining room, and a few bedrooms. Also, staircases are a great way to make the room itself look “Art Nouveau.” If you really want to get creative, try wallpaper the insides of your rooms with decorative paper or wrapping paper. You could even paint the “walls” if you make sure to do it well in advance of gluing your boxes together and arranging your furniture.
Van de Velde was born in 1863. He studied painting from 1881 to 1884 and was influenced by such artists as Georges Seurat and 
He designed and built his own house and several more prominent buildings, including the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo. You can see pictures of many of these buildings by 
Van de Velde did not design in the Art Nouveau style for his whole life. Art Nouveau went out of fashion around 1910 and he lived for another 42 years. As he evolved, he taught art to others, thus spreading his vision to a new generation of artists.
The furniture shown throughout this post was designed by van de Velde. Notice the curving lines and the elements drawn from nature.
The most distinguishing aspect is the overall look of an Art Nouveau object. Usually it consists of curvy lines with smooth surfaces. The object will look as if it has grown from nature. Often, the artist will use natural objects for inspiration such as seashells, flames, trees, flowers, and animals.
The glass sculpture shown above is a hand which rises out of a sea and is covered with seashells and algae. In fact it’s called Hand, Surrounded by Algae and Shells by Emile Galle. As was often the case with Art Nouveau pieces, this sculpture has symbolic meaning. The hand represents mankind which is in harmony with nature. This is apparent by the way the waves and algae and shells and hand are all made of complimentary materials and all run together smoothly. The hand, however, is in danger of being overtaken by the sea, the power of nature, just as people as a whole are in endangered by the power of nature. While we are usually in control, there is always the possibility that a hurricane or tidal wave or storm will take away that control.
The image above is Unity Temple. I visited during a hot summer day and was the only person in the building so I was allowed to wander as I pleased. It’s impossible to describe the feeling in that building but I’ll try. There is a spirituality but it is not like that found in most churches. It is not as dark inside because the walls are wood and the stained-glass windows are mostly clear with colored geometrical patterns. Steps can be found in each corner of the chapel and the building exists on three levels, though it feels like only one floor from which you can somehow float upward. Wright designed the pews and light fixtures, as well as the building itself and the stained-glass windows. Below is a picture of the interior.
The next few images come from the neighborhoods surrounding Unity Temple and are all Wright-designed homes. The first was Wright’s own home and studio when he lived in Illinois. When I visited, some work was being done to restore the front of the home but you should notice the sculptures above the door. Yep: designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. They’re called “The Bolders.” 
One of the most recognized homes that Wright designed is Falling Water, shown below. Notice how the building seems to fit into the land perfectly. The river actually runs underneath part of the house. Much of the building, as you can see, is made from stones that match those found in the river and the beams are brown like trees that surround the house.
Finally, the last picture I’ll show you today is of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It spirals out of the ground on the corner of a city block. There is no nature to be found here... or is there. When you step inside it is like entering a seashell. The green glass is the ceiling of the building and the spiraling ramps direct you through the building, beginning at the top and traveling downward.
I had originally planned to create a Wright-inspired ginger bread house as a project to tie-in to this article but last night on the Food Network someone built Falling Water and that convinced me of how difficult that project would really be. Still, you should check it out if you get a chance. The show will be replayed on Dec. 22 at 6:00pm and Dec. 23 at 3:00pm (Eastern Standard Time). It’s quite impressive.
These ideas were used not only in paintings, but in architecture as well. Look at this house, for instance, designed by Gerrit Rietveld. It is completely black and white with details in primary colors, and uses only rectangles formed by horizontal and vertical lines. The inside also uses simple lines. If you’ve ever seen a Frank Lloyd Wright designed building, you may be thinking that this house reminds you of his work. You’d be right to think that because Wright’s designs from the 1900s and 1910s influenced the later work of these Dutch architects. (You’ll learn about Wright next week.)
