ABSTRACT
The notes taken by Victor Horta’s students for the construction courses he taught during his professorship (1892–1911) at the Polytechnic School of Brussels University (Brussels, Archives ULB) and the presence of building construction-related books in the architect’s library (Sint-Gillis, Horta Museum, inventories, dated respectively 1931 and 1944), constitute two exceptional and unstudied written testimonies that shed light on the relationship between Horta (1861–1947) and building construction. Both source types furnish a wealth of detailed information that complement each other beautifully. Moreover, besides the individual and biographical level information, these sources provide a better understanding of the teaching subjects and practices of building construction and situate the Belgian construction culture in its broader international context.
