Victor Horta
By 1885 Horta worked on his own.  He was commissioned to design three houses. The same year he also joined the Central Society of Belgian Architecture. Over the next few years he was in a number of competitions for public work. He worked with sculptors (notably his friend Godefroid Devresse) on statuary and even tombs.  He won a number of prizes. He thought the forms he made were highly practical and not artistic.