On an ordinary weekday, among the Bruxellois hurrying to work, tourists stroll through the streets of Belgium’s capital, heads pointed skywards and cameras at the ready. Their gaze is directed at the elegant façades of art nouveau houses. The mapping out of walking tours is one of the many initiatives Brussels has been undertaking to promote its heritage.

The city is called the capital of art nouveau for good reason. It has the first and last houses to be built in this style in the world. The Belgian architect Victor Horta is credited with pioneering art nouveau architecture with his 1893 design for the Hôtel Tassel in a street off Avenue Louise. In 1911, Palais Stoclet on Avenue de Tervuren, by the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann, marked the transition towards art deco. Between 1893 and 1911, dispersed in the municipalities of Sint-Gilles, Ixelles and Schaarbeek, an estimated 2,500 art nouveau buildings were put up. Renowned architects included Paul Hankar, Henri van de Velde, Gustave Strauven, Paul Cauchie, Ernest Blérot and Léon Sneyers.