The 1970s saw many high-rise office blocks spring up across Brussels. The city became taller, with new construction techniques and materials enabling various technological feats.
However, a few decades on, signs of wear have started to appear, the insulation is inadequate, some of the concrete is showing fatigue, what used to be trendy now feels out of date and working from home has reduced the need for office space.
Often renovation is the order of the day, with older buildings being refurbished and repurposed. This will become clear on our walk, starting at the Centre Monnaie/Muntcentrum in Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan and winding up at the former offices of Crédit Communal/Gemeentekrediet in Rue de Ligne/de Lignestraat.
Along the way, we will observe many buildings from the 1970s, some of them under scaffolding and all of them in central Brussels.