The Esplanade of the European Parliament, or simply the mall, with its most representative part Solidarność 1980 Esplanade, (french: L'esplanade du Parlement européen, or , nl, Esplanade van het Europees ParlementRoep om compacter stadsweefsel klinkt luider
Brussel Deze Week) is a

pedestrian mall Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), completed in 2002.

Position

The mall runs the central length of the

Espace Léopold The Espace Léopold (French; commonly used in English) or Leopoldruimte (Dutch; ) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels, Belgium, housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU). It consists of a ...

(the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

buildings in Brussels), with the Alterio Spinelli building to the east and the Willy Brandt and József Antall to the west joined to the former by the circular Konrad Adenauer footbridge running over the mall. The former station building (see below) has been converted into an information centre and fronts onto Luxembourg Square. The mall itself covers a once over-ground

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, the

Brussels-Luxembourg Station Brussels-Luxembourg railway station (french: Gare de Bruxelles-Luxembourg, nl, Station Brussel-Luxemburg), officially Brussels-Luxembourg (french: Bruxelles-Luxembourg, link=no, nl, Brussel-Luxemburg, link=no), is a railway station in the Eu ...

(formerly known as the Leopold Quarter station). The paving over the top of the station allowed the construction of Parliament and created a direct link between Luxembourg Square to the west and

Leopold Park Leopold Park (french: Parc Léopold, ; nl, Leopoldspark) is a public park of located within the Leopold Quarter ( European Quarter) of Brussels, Belgium. It is adjacent to the Paul-Henri Spaak building, the seat of the European Parliament. I ...

to the east. The railway station's old entrance, since converted into part of the Parliamentary complex, is replaced by a glass covered stairway rising out of the mall's southern portion. The far south end is flanked by low-rise apartment blocks and is adjacent to local museums.

Criticism

It has been criticised for "leading nowhere" as, aside from the Parliament and railway station, the mall is devoid of life. Parliamentary authorities did not wish to share the site with private enterprise, primarily for security reasons, and hence there are no shops or services along its entire length. There are plans to extend it along the railway tracks to the north, meeting up with the

Berlaymont The Berlaymont () is an office building in Brussels, Belgium, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The structure is located on the Robert Schuman Roundabout at 200, rue de l ...

on the

Rue de la Loi The () or (Dutch), meaning "Law Street", is a major street running through central and eastern Brussels, Belgium, which is famous due to the presence of several notable Belgian and European Union (EU) governmental buildings. The road runs fro ...

and to the south, so the Commission's extra 'pole' of buildings in

Auderghem Auderghem (former Dutch spelling, now used in French; pronounced ) or Oudergem () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). Located to the southeast of the region, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to t ...

however residential opposition and delays mean this is not likely and it was not included as an option in recent architectural competitions.

Design

The mall is largely light pink and white

flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other con ...

, with the southern segment broken by grassy areas running down its centre. It curves following the layout of the train station below and the Parliamentary buildings above built around the tracks. In the stone in the northern segment are engraved marble slabs in the ground commemorating the first meeting of the ''World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty'' on 17 October 1987 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. They are written in four languages and contains a quote from

Joseph Wresinski Joseph Wresinski (12 February 1917 in Angers – 14 February 1988 in Suresnes) was a French priest and humanitarian activist. Biography Born to immigrant parents, Wresinski grew up in poverty and experienced social exclusion. He established major ...

and a commemoration of the 29 May 2002 follow up meeting in Brussels. In the re-planning of the European Quarter, the "public stature" of the mall is to be reinforced, along with the east-west connections. The northern end, which cuts off suddenly at

Rue Belliard The Rue Belliard ( French) or Belliardstraat (Dutch) is a major street in Brussels, Belgium, running parallel to the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat. Both are one-way streets; where traffic in the Rue de la Loi runs in the western direction towards B ...

, is to be improved, subject to an architecture competition. The southern segment will also be improved with better connections to residences, the park and the local museums. The government also seeks ideas on how to bring more life to the mall.Schéma directeur du quartier européen
Brussels-Capital Region

Name

According to Brussels' government, the term ''the mall'', translated from the French ''le mail'', was given by the designers due to the origin of the word ''mail''. The etymology of mail refers to the game, mail (a form of

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...

) which was played in 16th century

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on a raised grassy valley adjoining the Tuileries Palace Gardens. The proximity of

to the esplanade, which was originally higher, led the designers to apply the term. The central and most representative part of the mall was named the "Solidarność 1980" esplanade and runs parallel to Rue de Trèves between Chaussée de Wavre and Rue Belliard. This alludes to the

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

trade union and

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

, which is a symbol of the fight against the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

because it played a central role in bringing Poland's suppressive Communist regime to an end in the 1989.

Events

*On 3 June 2010 the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

arranged a dance event, show and concert on the Esplanade and

Place du Luxembourg The Place du Luxembourg ( French) or Luxemburgplein (Dutch), meaning "Luxembourg Square", is a square in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. It is better known by local European bureaucrats and journalists by one of its nicknames, ''Pla ...

, inviting members of the public. Among the artists performing on the stage erected on the Agora of Solidarity for the event were

Brian Molko Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a Belgian-born Scottish-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his distinctive nasal, high-pitche ...

Stromae Paul van Haver (; born 12 March 1985), better known by his stage name Stromae (), is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his music blending hip hop and electronic music. Stromae came to wide public attenti ...

Sandra Kim Sandra Caldarone (born 15 October 1972), better known as Sandra Kim, is a Belgian singer of Italian descent who won the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. Her father was an Italian immigrant from Torrebruna in the Province of Chieti in the Abruzzo re ...

. The celebration, themed "I ♥ EU" (pronounced ''"I love you"''), ended with a fireworks display and a "late-night after party hosted by a top DJ". Belgian television broadcast the event, which also was available through the

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

network and on the website of the Presidency.

References