Curved glass institutional towers line wide boulevards around the colonnaded stone arcade at Cinquantenaire, with older townhouses wedged between them.
What European Quarter looks like
Curved and cross shaped glass towers line Rue de la Loi and the streets around the , most of them eight to eighteen storeys with curtain wall glass facades. The Berlaymont's four winged cross rises over the avenue with mobile glass screens across its front that tilt against the sun. Wide multi lane junctions carry fast moving traffic built for the offices rather than for shops or pedestrians.
At the eastern edge, the 's triple stone arch and curved colonnades open onto Cinquantenaire Park, wide gravel paths running under mature trees. Older stone townhouses from the early twentieth century sit wedged between the office blocks on side streets such as Rue de l'Abdication, three storeys with plain rounded doorways and iron balconies. , at the opposite end near the Parliament complex, has narrower paths and closer tree cover.
The European Parliament's Paul-Henri Spaak and Altiero Spinelli buildings rise in grey stone and blue glass above Rue Wiertz, their hemicycle extending into Leopold Park. The Europa building's lattice patterned glass and steel front faces the older across Rue de la Loi, construction barriers still lining part of its pavement. EU flags fly along the plazas in front of both.
Ground floors along these streets are mostly lobbies and security barriers rather than shops, with little signage beyond building names and the flags. Below the Schuman roundabout, a covered rail and metro interchange feeds directly into the office blocks above it.
Shot in European Quarter
Stromae closed Cinquantenaire Park for a weekend to film the video for Fils de joie, with about five hundred extras and a staged military procession around the arcade. The song was the third single from his 2022 album Multitude.
Fils de joie, Stromae, 2022
Cinquantenaire Park
The video for Fils de joie was shot around the arcade and the open ground of Cinquantenaire Park, closed to the public for the weekend of the shoot. Stromae plays the president of an invented country presiding over a state funeral, with the arcade's colonnades standing behind the procession. Street View
The concrete plazas and glass office towers of La Défense read at the same international corporate scale as the buildings around Rue de la Loi, especially near the roundabout under La Grande Arche. La Défense's pedestrian deck sits a full level above the street traffic below it, which is different from Brussels's ground level roads, so keep the deck's edge out of a wide shot. Try searching glass office towers now.
Canary Wharf's cluster of glass office towers around wide traffic circles and elevated walkways matches the same corporate international scale as the buildings around Rue de la Loi. The Docklands Light Railway viaducts and the water beside several towers are distinct to Canary Wharf, so keeping both out of frame is what holds the comparison together. Try searching glass office towers traffic circles now.
The mix of 1990s glass office towers standing beside older stone buildings at Potsdamer Platz gives the same contrast of new institutional blocks against an older street that Cinquantenaire has. The Sony Center's tent shaped canopy roof is instantly recognizable, so staying on the plainer office blocks nearby is what keeps the comparison usable. Try searching 1990s glass office towers now.
.jpg)
