The ( French, ) or ( Dutch), usually shortened to the Place Rogier, or Rogier by locals, is a major

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

in the

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ( French, ) or Sint-Joost-ten-Node ( Dutch, ), often simply called Saint-Josse in French or Sint-Joost in Dutch, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part o ...

municipality of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It is named in honour of Charles Rogier, a former

Prime Minister of Belgium The prime minister of Belgium (; ; ) or the premier of Belgium is the head of the federal government of Belgium, and the most powerful person in Belgian politics. The first head of government in Belgian history was Henri van der Noot in 179 ...

who played an important political role during the Belgian Revolution of 1830. The square is located on the transition between Brussels' historic city centre (the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

) and the Northern Quarter

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

(also called ''Little Manhattan''), an exponent of modern Brussels. It is an important communication node in the city both in terms of road network and public transport. Many hotels, offices and shops adjoin it. The Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat, Belgium's second busiest shopping street, also ends there. It is served by the metro and '' premetro'' (underground tram) station Rogier on lines 2, 4, 6 and 10.

History

Early history

The square was originally known as the / ("Nations Square") or the / ("Cologne Square"). In 1885, following the death of the liberal statesman and former

, Charles Rogier, it was renamed the / ("Charles Rogier Square") in his honour. Place Rogier et Gare du Nord

Until 1952, the original

Brussels-North railway station Brussels-North railway station (; ) is one of the three major railway stations in Brussels, Belgium; the other two are Brussels Central Station, Brussels-Central and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels-South. Every regular domestic and i ...

was located on the Place Charles Rogier. With the commissioning of the North–South connection, this terminus station was replaced, further north, by the current transit station. The old station building was demolished in 1955. The Rogier International Center (, ), also called the Martini Tower, was erected in 1960 on the former site of the station, and housed the National Theatre of Belgium until 1999. The building was demolished in 2001, and replaced by the Rogier Tower.

Redevelopment (2008–2017)

In 2006, the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

decided to completely redevelop the square. The renovation lasted from 2008 to 2017, with most of the work carried out between 2013 and 2015. The project was the subject of an international architectural competition, with some of the entrances to the metro station also being opened and renovated. Above the station, a large parasol-shaped translucent

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

was built in 2015 according to plans by the architect Xaveer De Geyter. The construction weighs and has a diameter of . Place Charles Rogier in 2007.jpg, The Place Charles Rogier before renovation, with its glass pyramid File:Brussels, COVID-19 lockdown 05.jpg, The square as it appears today, with its

by Xaveer De Geyter

Location and accessibility

The Place Charles Rogier lies at the conjunction of the / to south with two smaller streets on its northern side: the / and the /. Additionally, two sides streets lead into it from the north-west and north-east: the / and the /.

Notable buildings

The Place Charles Rogier is home to an important architectural heritage: * the Crowne Plaza Brussels - Le Palace (formerly Palace Hôtel) (1909),

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

hotel by Adhémar Lener * the Hotel Indigo Brussels - City (formerly Hôtel Albert I) (1929),

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

hotel by Michel Polak and Albert Poor * the Hôtel Siru (1932), Art Deco or early modernist hotel by Marcel Chabot * the Manhattan Center (1972), functionalist building by Louis Van Hove * the Rogier Tower (formerly Dexia Tower), completed in 2006 on the site of the Rogier International Center, by Philippe Samyn and Partners and M. & J-M. Jaspers - J. Eyers & Partners * the Covent Garden (2004–2007),

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

building by Henri Montois File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Palace Hôtel - 02.jpg, Palace Hôtel (Lener, 1909) File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Albert Ier - 01.jpg, Hôtel Albert I (Polak and Poor, 1929) File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Hôtel Siru - 05.jpg, Hôtel Siru (Chabot, 1932) File:Belgium - Brussels - Manhattan Building - 01.jpg, Manhattan Center (Van Hove, 1972) File:Belgium - Brussels - Rogier Tower - 01.jpg, Rogier Tower (Samyn and Jaspers-Eyers, 2006) File:Belgium - Brussels - Covent Garden - 01.jpg, Covent Garden (Montois, 2007)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Place Rogier/Rogierplein Squares in Brussels Saint-Josse-ten-Noode 19th century in Brussels