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From Brussels With Love

Reflections of Berlaymont

berlaymont4

I went round Berlaymont, the HQ of the European Commission, looking for some good shots. I found this reflection of the building on the polished walls.

I also got some nice shots of Eurocrats wandering around talking into their mobiles.

I'm hoping to get inside the building soon as EC Vice-President Wallstrom has promised me an interview.

Kraainem Metro

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This metro station is unusual in that it is overground and contains no art inside. Instead the architecture is the art and on a sunny day it becomes a cathedral of light.

Coloured Windows

loi windows

There is a plethora of cheap glass and steel buildings in the centre of town and the 'European quarter' that are entirely lacking in inspiration or vision.

Here there has been some attempt to add something to a blank glass wal. coloured supports. It's a start, I suppose and actually looks quite nice on a sunny day. Ah. Therein lies the rub...

Orange Reflection

orange reflection

finally some sunlight in the late afternoon bringing in a soft warm light. This is reflected on the copper windows of the EC R&D place.

Arts Loi Metro Entrance

Arts Loi metro entrance

Many metro stations have a surprising number of entrances and exits, some of them are pleasingly 'old school'. I really liked this one, with the trees either side and the classical building behind it.

Coup de théâtre à La Monnaie

Coup de théâtre à La Monnaie
Originally uploaded by MKWM

"Curtain", by Alicja Karska & Aleksandra Went (Project 21 - Poland)

A fortnight ago, as I was having a warm drink, sitting on a terrace in Place de la Monnaie, I kept looking at that red curtain, wondering what it could be all about. Now I know... and I must admit this Agorafolly project actually distracted me from my daily routine in the most pleasant way, unveiling a building I knew nothing about, although I’ve been living in Brussels for over a quarter of a century.

What you can see behind the curtain

The theatre's history

Anspach Reconstruction

anspach3

I've been following this project and, now the demolition is done, I managed to sneak in and get this photo that shows the old facade looking remarkably fragile and small when compared to the monstrosity behind it.

EU Parliament

eu parliament

Or half of it as people still continue to trudge over to Strasbourg for no sane reason.

Well. I'm back from a week in Blighty and will carry on posting photos of Brussels.

But first I must gorge myself on waffles.

I'm Off For a Week or So

palas de congres2

Hopefully I will still be able to post photos, but you never know.

I'm off to England where I shall make fun of their silly sterlings, telling people that Camilla will look good on the stamps and ask them why their country is run by Scottish people.

See you soon, if I survive.

Prison de Saint-Gilles

Prison de Saint-Gilles
Originally uploaded by MKWM

You wouldn't expect it to be a prison but, after all, the castle has always had a significant residential function...

Location: Avenue Ducpétiaux, close to the town hall pictured below. Tudor style - architects François Derré and Joseph Dumont.
Built between 1878 and 1884, it replaced the Carmes prison in the Sablon area.

During WWI, Norfolk heroin Edith Cavell, Belgian and French secret agents Gabrielle Petit and Louise de Bettignies were imprisoned here.

Town Hall in Saint-Gilles

Originally uploaded by MKWM

The French neo- renaissance style town hall of Saint-Gilles-lez-Bruxelles (the commune's official title) was built between 1900 and 1904 under the supervision of its architect Albert Dumont.

This building is a remarkable example of the artistic magnificence of the beginning of 20th Century. Constantin Meunier, Antoine Wiertz, Joseph Detilleux, Albert Ciamberlani, Emile Fabry, Omer Dierickx, Fernand Khnopff, Julien Dillens, Jef Lambeaux, Eugène Broerman, Victor Rousseau, Auguste Rodin... More than 107 artists contributed to the decoration of this outstanding edifice.

Jef Lambeaux’s bronze statue, La Déesse du Bocq, was meant to surmount a fountain that was never built and was kept hidden until 1976 because of its... sensuality.

Whether you choose the front or rear entrance, this town hall is worth a visit.

Enjoy the view from the lovely cafés surrounding square Van Meenen, where a market is held every Monday afternoon.

The Anspach Centre

anspach4

There's not much left of it now. It's interesting to note how Brussels is changing and a some of us are using Flickr to document the demolition and rebuilding of the Anspach Centre.

I'm glad that they're keeping the old facade and demolished the god awful 50's extension. The really sad thing is that the Place de la Monnaie is dominated by one of the most hideous buildings I've ever seen.

I think there should be another group for the various work being done around Brussels as we've got an opportunity to document changing Brussels like never before.

missing house

missing house

This is a common effect of 'Brusselisation', where there has been uncontrolled development, resulting in sheer vandalism of the architecture and the wildly inappropriate 'filling in' of vacant spaces.

This is one example. The central house was left to rot and a smaller house was built - you can see the outline of it at the rear. Then the roof was lowered.

The people on the left were confident that things would stay like theis that they even built some windows into what was once an ajoining wall.

European Parliament

main hall

I'm at a conference in the parliament for the next couple of days, so here's a shot of the main hall. It's an interesting place, lots of people milling around, many groups here for meetings, looking around and so on.

The ground floor in the photo is a range of shops and there's a couple of not very good cafes at the far end. This is why everyone heads off to Place Lux at every opportunity.

Back in the Jungle

parliamen21

Peering through the Brussels rainforest I was startled to see this huge building.

Is it some sign of an advanced civilisation I wonder?

Apologies for the title, but it's not often I can squeeze in a New York Dolls reference ;-)

DG Research, looking in at itself

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This is the EU Commission's DG Research building. The reflected glass is also echoed from neighbouring offices.

I'm not too hot on steel and glass buildings, but the copper coloured windows and late afternoon sunlight can produce something dazzling

long time no see

long time no see
Originally uploaded by Dez & Jude.

I haven't really had time to take pictures in Brussels lately, but yesterday I finally got to walk around downtown with my parents who are visiting us from Hungary and shot some photos. This one was taken right next to Notre-Dame du Sablon, some office buildings with the reflection of the church just in the corner. What I like about this one are the angles and the blue of the windows.

ReflectedBuildings

reflected-buildings

Taken on Rue de la Loi, this shows the modern face of Brussels and it's corperate/euzone mixture of steel and glass buildings. Sure they have nice lines but that completely lack character or substance.

The mixture of old and new styles in Brussels is quite incredible, but the modern standards are cheap and bland. Many of the old architects had their names carved into stone on their buildings, but who wants to take credit for a big flat sheet of glass?

Sightseeing

brussels-sightseeing

I can really see the attraction of taking a sightseeing tour bus; it gives you a good run through of the main points of interest in a city, and ideas for further exploration.

That said, this bus it taking people through the EU district where they are shown a series of glass and steel monstrosities housing organisations with such long names that the drivers have to crawl along in order for the guides to explain who is in what building. Not that anyone leaves any the wiser as to how it all fits together.