Due to a gas leak, the children of a school in Anderlecht had to be evacuated. The fact took place this morning, at 8:10, at chaussée de Ninove 333.

Fortunately, no poisoning has been reported and all the children that were present in the school are safe and unharmed.

The origin of the leak is still unknown. However, it has been stated that there was no construction site in progress. The police report that firefighters and Sibelga are still in the school and that for security reasons the traffic had to be interrupted on that stretch of road.

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Brussels has a reputation for poor urban decision-making. The destruction of Horta’s Maison du Peuple or Ixelles’s Halles for example, still cause locals to facepalm in anguish. But sometimes the planners get it right.

The Anderlecht Abattoir was built in 1888 to replace its festering predecessor. The new site would be better connected to the canal and rail infrastructure. A branch of the Senne was redirected, the swampy terrain was drained and four-metre vaulted foundations were dug. The vaults become an ice-cellar and mushroom farm (and these days are available for venue-hire). Above sprouted a hundred cast iron columns supporting the vast metal roof of the 400sq metre markethall, designed by Emile Tirou.

At the gate, visitors are greeted by two cast bronze bulls, copies of those at the Vaugirard Abattoir in Paris (now the Parc Georges Brassins). Inside, in the shade of the roof, daylight is carved into horizontal bands and ornate arches.

This is not only an impressive part of agro-food history, but an exciting part of the city’s future. A hundred years after its construction, the site was sold to a cooperative and listed as a classified monument in 1988. It has gone from strength to strength. 200,000 animals a year are still slaughtered here and there are multiple thriving ‘mets’ (‘met’ is the old Brussels dialect for market) including a Sunday flea market, Brocantemet. Complementing its older mistress, a new Foodmet was recently added, housed in a pre-cast concrete pavilion which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale 2016, with cutaway panels resembling a child’s shape sorting game.

And throughout the summer, from 6pm on a Thursday night, Abattoir becomes the venue for one of Brussels’s most surprising afterwork parties. The Boeremet. Lined with foodstalls serving pizza, thai noodles, dim sum, burgers, nibbles and shots, chips (of course) and plenty more, the marketplace is taken over by a massive sound system pumping out popular club floorfillers. By 8pm, enthusiastic semi-clad punters are dancing on the tables.

You’ve been warned!

The post Brussels Hidden Gems: Afterwork Party at Boeremet, Abattoir – and more appeared first on Brussels Express.

Less than one month after Hans Vanhaezebrouck got sacked, RSC Anderlecht has found a new coach. The Mauves will be under the direction of Fred Rutten.

“We engage in a partnership with Rutten in order to get big successes this season and the upcoming seasons,” Michael Verschueren, RSCA sports director, stated after the parties agreed on a contract. It is a permanent contract, which means the RSCA staff aims to collaborate with Mr. Rutten on a long-term perspective.

“Being hired by a great club like Anderlecht, at the top of the Belgian football, is a great honour to me,” Mr. Rutten said in a press conference on Monday.

Mr Vanhaezebrouck’s successor has been a big deal over the last days. Several candidates had been considered, and Mr Rutten wasn’t the first option.

“A friend told me the first choice is never the chosen one,” the new RSCA coach added. Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu were, for instance, mentioned before.

Fred Rutten has already coached several famous teams. He was indeed in charge of PSV Eindhoven, Schalke 04 and Feyenoord Rotterdam in the 2000’s and 2010’s. The last team he managed was Maccabi Haïfa, in Israel.

It is now up to him to try to make the situation better. Anderlecht is ranked 5^th in the Belgian championship today.

The post Fred Rutten appointed as the new coach of Anderlecht appeared first on Brussels Express.

“It’s the most important urban failure over this mandate,” Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven (MR), the Brussels MP told DH, when he was asked to comment on this.

The idea was to set up new projects for the Heyvaert neighbourhood (both in Anderlecht and Molenbeek), which has been hosting the terminal of second-hand cars, which are supposed to go to Antwerp and to Africa, by relocating this activity in a Ro-Ro terminal in the port of Brussels. This change would also make the transfers from Brussels to Antwerp easier.

This is why a third call for proposals had been launched recently. But no investor had submitted any project, and the port of Brussels decided to let the project down.

“It is completely irresponsible from both an economic and urban perspective,” Mr. Van Goidsenhoven added. He added that the trade of second-hand cars will definitely suffer from this failure of the project over the upcoming years, as well as it surely bars any initiative in Heryvaert, which is often presented as a dirty and bad neighbourhood.

 

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exciting spaces during a site visit for a new urban project #heyvaert #productivecity #urbanism #industrialcities #plusofficearchitects

A post shared by ward (@somehowbrussels) on Jun 9, 2017 at 6:37am PDT

“The port of Brussels is disappointed about the ways this issue has turned out. Several efforts have been conducted in order to make this project concrete, as it lied within a strategic interest both to the Port and to the Region and the communes involved […],” the port of Brussels commented.

The issue consists of two parts. About 25% of garages have indeed closed down over the past years, ahead of this Ro-Ro project in the port. And flats have been built in those areas instead.

On the other side, both Anderlecht and Molenbeek had views on the future of Heyvaert. They should definitely update their plans by taking into account the fact that the terminal for second-hand cars will remain active for the upcoming years, which should have an impact on the economic and social activities in the area.

“We need to gather all the communes involved, the second-hand car sellers and the Port of Brussels, in order to work on all the alternative solutions,” Van Goidsenhoven concluded.

 

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« Need for roofs, not cars » Visiting the secondhand cars district #Heyvaert in #Molenbeek (Brussels), where inhabitants want to get rid of this noisy market. ✊📣 #photooftheday #picoftheday #urbanphotography #redandblue #wallwriting #resistance #streetmilitant #contrast #streetphotography #wallsandgates

A post shared by Arts & Beers (@arts_n_beers) on Jul 6, 2017 at 12:07pm PDT

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In the past, the brewing process took place from mid-October to mid-May. However, due to global warming over the past recent years, this time period is being reduced. The rise in temperatures has produced scorching hot springs.

As such, the lambic has to be brewed during the cool nights.

Cantillon, as well as other breweries in the Brussels Region, have not yet found an answer to how their production will continue to be affected in the short term.

The post Cantillon Brewery in Anderlecht is being affected by global warming appeared first on Brussels Express.