BRUSSELS | The EU-capital

[Benonie]

[Benonie]

In between Royal Square and Royal Palace.

[SHiRO]

Nice! I quite like Brussels as capital of the EU. Can't think of a city better suited (maybe Budapest as a distant second choice).

[Benonie]

Yes indeed. Beautifull Budapest would have been a good choice too, but Hungary was still a part of the Warsaw Pact when the European Community was set up, while Belgium was one of the founding members.
And of course Brussels is and always was a melting pot of cultures and languages.

[dktshb]

I cannot believe it took me almost 2 years to come across this thread. Great work Benonie! Brussels, Belgium is gorgeous. I assumed the city would be flat but there is a little hill action there apparently. Thanks for sharing.

[Benonie]

Thanks!
The northern part of Belgium is very flat indeed. In the middle and southern part it's rather hilly.

[Benonie]

European Quarter:

[Benonie]

[boden]

After looking at every pic on every page of this thread all I can say is "WOW!"
WHAT AN AMAZING CITY. So urban, dense, historical and modern at the same time. It looks way bigger than 1.8M. I'll have to visit someday. Thanks for all of your hard work. You are obviously and justifiably very proud of your city.

[Benonie]

Thanks.
I think Brussels is a bit underrated and allthough I don't live in the city (I live 70 km west of Brussels), I'm proud of my capital, indeed.
Belgium is a very small country, so allmost everybody lives close to Brussels and most cities are well connected by train and motorways with the capital.

[Benonie]

European Parliament:

[Benonie]

Just around the corner of the European Parliament: The Leopold Park.







Part of the famous and splendid Museum of Natural Sciences.







This should become a new European Museum in the future.

[Benonie]

More EU-Quarter:







The Committee of the Regions is EU's assembly of local and regional representatives.


The Résidence Palace. Former art deco luxurious apartment block.
It is formed of three buildings, a press centre and a building currently being renovated for use by the European Council.


The former Van Maerlant Convent, now a meeting point for Eurocrats.


On the left, the Crown Plaza Hotel, which will be demolished soon. On the right, the Lex Building.


The Lex building is an annex building of the Council of the EU (its main building is the Justus Lipsius building)




The Berlaymont Building houses the headquarters of the European Commission.

On the left, the Charlemagne building, which houses the Directorate-General for Trade, the Directorate-General for
External Relations and the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission.
In front the entrance to Shuman Metro and underground Railwaystation.

The Justus Lipsius building is the headquarters of the Council of the European Union


The ugliest street of Brussels, the Wetstraat/Rue de la Loi, leads from the EU-quarter to the city Center and contains
masses of Offices. Old and ugly offices!


In 2025 it will become something like this:

[Bedhead]

Originally Posted by boden

After looking at every pic on every page of this thread all I can say is "WOW!"
WHAT AN AMAZING CITY. So urban, dense, historical and modern at the same time. It looks way bigger than 1.8M. I'll have to visit someday. Thanks for all of your hard work. You are obviously and justifiably very proud of your city.

Brussels is one of the most walkable cities I've ever been to. What also makes it intriguing is the number of neighbourhoods that are just on the cusp of being either gritty or gentrified. It's great to see a thread like this that shows both.

[Benonie]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Bedhead

What also makes it intriguing is the number of neighbourhoods that are just on the cusp of being either gritty or gentrified. .

I agree! You walk along the chique Gulden Vlieslaan, turn around the corner and you're in the shabby African Matongé-quarter.
Stroll across trendy Dansaert Street, cross the Channel and walk in to the Magreb 'Old Molenbeek'

And so on, and so on... Nomboureus examples in the city.

This one is taken about 50 meter of the Royal Palace. No kidding!



The 'wall' on the right is part of the fence of the Royal Garden.

The highrise on the background is the Hilton Hotel. 100 meter to the east lays the expensive European quarter...

[Benonie]

Maritime district, north of the city center. Here some new urban projects including highrises are planned in the near future.

































Location future Premium Tower:


Premium tower and surroundings:


Dockside Tower:

[SHiRO]

Great pics! keep m coming!

[Benonie]

Thanks, some more:

Laeken or Laken is a residential suburb in north-west Brussels. It belongs to the municipality of the City of Brussels.

The neo-gothic Church of Our Lady, initially built as a mausoleum for queen Louise-Marie, wife of Leopold I, whose children included Leopold II of Belgium and Empress Carlota of Mexico. The church contains the royal crypt, where the members of the Belgian Royal Family are buried.

Royal Castle
The Royal Castle of Laeken, official home of the Belgian Royal Family is situated here. The castle was built between 1782-1784 by Charles de Wailly. It was partly destroyed by fire in 1890 and rebuilt and extended by Balat. It has been the royal residence since the accession to the throne of King Leopold I in 1831.

Statue of Leopold I of Belgium Statue in front of the Castle.

The royal castle domain also contains the magnificent greenhouses of Laeken, a set of dome-shaped constructions, accessible to the public only a few days a year. They were designed as by Alphonse Balat, with the cooperation of the young Victor Horta

.





(Info sources: Wikipedia.com)

[Dr Awesomesauce]

A sexy city. Always enjoy taking a peek at your thread.

[Benonie]

Originally Posted by pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce

A sexy city. Always enjoy taking a peek at your thread.

Thanks! Some more pictures of the Park of Laeken, the Japanese Tower and the Chinese Pavilion near the parc: