Before introducing Art Nouveau (AN) in Istanbul, it is perhaps necessary to mention why and where AN first appeared in history.  The common view of many art historians is that AN was born due to four reasons.

The first of these is the movement of Arts and Crafts, which was led by William Morris in the second half of the 19^th century, in England.  This movement, by using modest pre-Raphaelist symbols and artisanship, denounced altogether the depressing and heavy character of Victorian neoclassisism and gothic architecture. The boundaries between concepts like “artisanship”, “artist”, “architect” and “designer” became vague and penetrable.

The termination of Japan’s 200 years long hibernation was another catalyst in the birth of AN. European art was greatly influenced by the simplicity of Japanese art.  This influence did not only show up in ceramics, textile and plastic arts (as in the example of Van Gogh) but shed its shadow over architecture as well.  Asymmetry, harmony and liberty of composition in this artistic style opened new horizons before the eyes of european artists.

The industrial revolution that begun in the 18^th century, became capable of feeding architectural world in Europe in the 19^th century with cast iron, steel and glass.  Parallel to this, growing syndicalism and socialist politics had an important impact on young and idealistic architects to diminish –if not erase- the traces of poor working conditions on working classes by accepting these new industrial materials to be used in their designs.

And finally, industrialization gave birth to a relatively wealthier working class and this, inevitably, accelerated the urbanization in major European cities.  For example, at the end of the 19^th century 30.000 new buildings had been erected in Brussels.  Nevertheless, in Brussels, industrialization was not the only reason behind the sky-rocketing urbanization.  The discovery (!) of Congo by Sir Henry Morton Stanley in 1876 under the reign of King Leopold II poured an enormous amount of natural resources, capacity and thereby wealth to Belgium.  The large avenues and colossal buildings seen in the Belgian capital today are reminiscence of this ambitious Belgian monarch.