Stage 5
Stage 5
Northern district and back to the centre
Postmodernism & "glass towers"
This stage of the route starts at Brussels North Station. If you’re a fan of glass towers then you can easily lose yourself in this business district - see the North Galaxy Towers and the Ellipse Building by following Boulevard Albert II to the left - but we advise you to go up the Boulevard in the other direction. Around the corner, you’ll find the Proximus Towers, postmodernist twin towers built by Jaspers-Eyers between 1994 and 1996. Right next door is the Phoenix, home to Baloise Belgium insurance, built by abv+ architecten and renovated between 2018 and 2020. Next is the Hendrik Conscience at number 15, also designed by Michel Jaspers, built in 1998 and renovated in 2018. Another remarkable building is the Seven at 7/9 Boulevard Albert II, renovated and restructured by the Jaspers-Eyers studio in 2019.
Opposite it are three identical postmodernist buildings, North Gate I-II-III, the work of the offices of Jaspers-Eyers and Atelier d'architecture de Genval between 1991 and 1994, which house various federal public services. Next door is the very recent Quatuor, four office and co-working towers again designed by Jaspers-Eyers (the co-working space was designed by Belgian artist Lous and the Yakuza). Opposite, on the corner, stands the Baudouin Tower, created by the Atelier d'Architecture de Genval between 1988 and 1992.
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Move on to Place Rogier with its Rogier Tower, built in a modern style between 2003 and 2006 by architects Philippe Samyn and Michel Jaspers. Its coloured lights make it also worth seeing at night. The canopy, on the square, was designed by Xaveer De Geyter and Michel Desvigne and completed in 2017.
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There are several options here. If you have had enough, you can stop (if you've made it this far, you have done well!), or if you have not yet had your fill of glass towers you can carry on to the right of Rogier Tower and discover a series of other buildings. Otherwise, you can finish your visit with a few final treasures that are well worth the detour (but you still have to walk a bit, we are not going to lie).
The next stop, a key example of functionalism, is the Marais building, at 2 Rue du Marais, the former CGER headquarters, designed by Marcel Lambrichs (yes, him again!) and built between 1969 and 1974. Go up the street and, at the corner of Rue de la Montagne des Herbes Potagères, you’ll spot another building that belonged to the CGER, constructed between 1947 and 1953 by Alfred Chambo in a modern, French neo-Art Deco style. It’s an office building that also houses the food court The Wolf.
From there, a short trip back through the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries, designed by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar in 1846 and one of the first covered shopping centres in the world.
Go up the attractive Rue des Éperonniers to the Lombard 77, which is located at 77 Rue du Lombard (no surprise there)! This strange glass cube, designed by Marcos Alvarez and affixed to the existing building, dates from 2013. It houses the French-speaking Parliament of Brussels.
Next is a charming return to brutalism at 34-42 Rue du Lombard, with the incredible former headquarters of the Construction Confederation. It’s an example of pure brutalism mixed with post-war modernism dating from 1968, designed by the architects Marcel Lambrichs(!), Casimir Grochowski and Daniel de Laveleye and is currently awaiting works to transform it for its next role.
And last but not least, a U-turn to conclude (we owed you one last U-turn!) to see the architectural strangeness that is the Brussels Parliament at 69 Rue du Lombard. The ground floor dates back to its original construction in 1696, the first-floor dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and, lastly, around 1995, a decision was made to build a new hemicycle for the glass roof of the building, which is clearly visible from Place Saint-Jean and is a fitting reminder of this day spent plunged into the modern and contemporary.