Street lamp museum Best visited at sunset, this open air museum, a strange combination of art and social history, exhibits around twenty public street lamps that show the evolution of street lighting in Brussels. Enamel plaques shed even more light on the background of each type of street lamp. rue E. Delva, between numbers 75 and 87 • 1020 Brussels More information

Illumination of the Dexia Tower The building has a total of 6,000 windows. Behind each of 4,200 windows there is a lighting installation consisting on average of 12 light bulbs, each with three LEDs – a green, a red and a blue - that can be combined into a complete colour palette. A rapid change in the colour of the lamps instantaneously gives an impression of movement. The façade can show figures, letters, geometric shapes with various effects and also graphic designs. The combination of green, red and blue produces white. To start the lighting system, all blinds should be closed as the leds are not strong enough to light the façade alone. The reflection on the closed blind illuminates the whole surface of the window. If the blind remains open, you only see a horizontal light line at the bottom of the window. When the illumination system is working, all the sun-blinds close automatically. This is necessary because the colours are reflected off them. The system is controlled by a central computer. The resullt is entered in a programme to be translated for the lighting system by the computer. An image, a visual effect or letters are only visible when some windows are lit in some colours. This means that each of the 4,200 windows equipped with the system can be illuminated separately and exactly in a given colour. This produces the image or the animation you can see. A central computer translates the effect to be shown, image per image. www.dexia-towers.com Picture : Vanderslagmolen

White Nights On the famous avenue Louise, one 4-star hotel in particular attracts the attention of visitors. Entirely renovated and stripped of all the usual chintz and flounces, the White Hotel has opted for minimalism and Belgian design. The hotel is worth a visit not only for its simplicity, but also for its ingenuity, such as this huge 55-metre long wooden band that serves as a sort of guide for guests, lest they get lost in the vast lobby of the hotel. Reception, bar, open fire, breakfast room and library are stringed out along the horizontal entrance in a ballet of upward and downward curves.

Reaching for the stars costs nothing Tucked away on the top floor of a building of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, an astronomy dome open to everyone allows you to observe the phenomena of the universe from the city. A lecturer with a passion for his subject, invites you, every Wednesday evening (in winter, because of the requisite darkness) to come and join him for an enthralling lesson in star spotting and a more in-depth look at the subject…free of charge. To put your name down, send a mail to pourbaix@astro.ulb.ac.be.

Vintage pop culture The only collection of its kind, the Plasticarium — Museum of Plastic — is well worth a report of its own. Located in an Art Deco house, it contains an anthology of the most colourful things from the Golden Sixties. Flashy orange armchairs, curvy furniture, pop implements, various strangely-shaped objects …this magnificent collection of hundreds of pieces is “a utopia of all things plastic”. As Roland Topor used to say, “it slides, it’s smooth and it’s beautiful”. That says it all. Admission for groups only and booking is essential. Tel.: + 32 (0)2 344 98 21

Sleeping in an atom As part of its huge face-lift, some surprising innovations were installed in the Atomium spheres. Fitted out by the Spanish artist Alicia Framis, one sphere is now entirely dedicated to children. Educational workshops are held there and thirty or so kids can even sleep over. In groups of threes, the children fall asleep in “rain molecules”, which are like suspended cosy nests in bright colours. During the day, the molecules are raised back up again so as to free up the space set aside for the children. They’ll then be able to work, play, read, write and even have a wash. http://www.atomium.be/

High fashion rooms To stand out from the Brussels' hotel crowd, the Royal Windsor hotel, situated close to the Grand-Place, has designed the Fashion rooms. Thanks to the enlightened collaboration of the Brussels leading fashion designers, neutral hotel rooms have been turned into sumptuous designer places. Mademoiselle Lucien, Jean-Paul Knott, Marina Yee, Kaat Tilley and Nicolas Woit have left wonderful examples of their talent and eccentricity there and Xavier Delcour will be completing the last of the twelve rooms. Makes you want to go to your room, doesn't it? To find out all you want to know about the Fashion Rooms: Press Contact: Micheline Van De Zende Tel. : +32 (0) 475 775 999, E-mail : micheline@bureaudelapresse.be