Horta, Victor, Baron Horta (1861–1947)

Belgian art nouveau architect. He was responsible for a series of apartment buildings in Brussels, the first of which, the Hôtel Tassel (1892), is striking in its use of sinuous forms and decorative ironwork in the interior, particularly the staircase. His sumptuous Hôtel Solvay (1895–1900) and Maison du Peuple (1896–99) are more complete, interior and exterior being unified in a stylistic whole.

Born at Ghent, he studied at Ghent academy and the Academie des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. He designed department stores in Brussels and Frankfurt, and numerous houses. His later buildings, notably the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1922–28), were in a severe classical style.