The heart of Brussels beats to a constant state of flux—as the torrid bureaucratic capital of the European Union, a crossroads for tourists in search of Belgian blonds and moules frites, an architectural blend from Art Nouveau to the Neoclassical. It’s a city that revels in change. But Brussels’s image has always lacked the romance of Paris, or London’s subversive artistic spirit, or the thrill of Barcelona’s vibrant restaurant circuit.
In recent years, however, a new sense of creative energy has been brewing in Brussels—frenetic, and not taking itself too seriously. A wave of experimental art collectives have made their homes in its smaller neighborhoods and in 19th century derelict buildings. While nightlife remains under threat everywhere, radical spaces for both emerging and established artists propel people to their dancefloors. Young chefs are breaking out of the old school French formats to drive forward new flavor palettes and eco-conscious cooking.
“Brussels is like if Paris and Berlin had a lovechild,” says Baïlo Staumont, who works across the local arts, culture, and design industries through the cultural center MAD Brussels. “The scene feels pretty surreal. We’re small, but constantly full of surprises. You can’t ever tell how a night will go down.”
It had been a little while since I’d last been in Brussels; the last time was when I was an arts student on an exchange program in Amsterdam, taking the bus semi-regularly to take in the techno played in forests on the city’s outskirts. My cultural intake was limited to anything between 140 to 180 B.P.M.; my diet strictly frites the morning after. This time, I took the Eurostar Premier from London St Pancras International to Brussels Midi—the Premier option meant a breakfast service curated by two-Michelin-starred chef Jérémy Chan, and I arrived in two hours. From there, it was a short journey to Brussels’s regenerating Northern Quarter and the recently opened Standard Hotel.
The 200 room, 28-story building is part of The Standard’s growing portfolio—with locations from Ibiza to Miami, the East Village NYC to Bangkok—and is its largest European hotel. Towering over rows of 1960s office blocks, The Standard Brussels takes residence in the burgeoning Quartier Nord. Close by, The Kanal-Centre Pompidou Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art is being primed for reopening in 2026 after major renovations, and in its large green space sits the ever-evolving urban farming concept Parckfarm.
Keeping in stylistic lockstep with its other offerings, The Standard’s sleek and sexy, modish interiors have been designed in collaboration between The Standard’s head of design Verena Haller and Bernard Dubois Architects. Its 29th floor offers panoramic views and plays home to its rooftop restaurant and bar, Lila29. Food is focused on Iberian cuisine: red mullet on fluffy polenta, grilled pulpo contoured by inky aioli, wedges of melon draped in diaphanous jamon Iberico—served with the Lila29 Spritz spiked with jalapeño fig vermouth.
An elevator back to the hotel’s ground floor takes you into the lush Greenhouse room, a vast botanical space adjacent to the Double Standard bar that, by day, is open to the public as a garden, and by night, becomes a party space. Its opening night brought out the city’s fashion, art, and design sets to dance to Honey Dijon and Brussels’s own Lefto Early Bird. A clutch of local beers on tap, ginger margaritas, and Don Julio tequila in the Double Standard kept the crowd out late. Hours later, sore heads were assuaged with pickled lemon Bloody Marys and Belgian frittatas for breakfast.
But even the most delicate among us were able to seek out the region’s vibrant art scene. 30 minutes away in the village of Zaventem is Zaventem Ateliers, a former industrial wasteland and paper factory turned vibrant community hub that houses 26 independent artists, designers, scenographers, and more in its workshop spaces. There, we peeked inside the studio of Belgian artist and designer Adeline Halot, who combines flax linen with stainless steel wire to create shimmering, ultra-precise tapestries; then headed to ATELIER185 under Clem Vanhee, who practices the almost lost art of Damascus steel forging and knife-making; and finally, to see KRJST Studio’s sumptuously colored woven textiles.
Venturing back into Brussels and heading to its densely populated Saint-Josse-ten-Noode neighborhood, we were also invited into the once-derelict 19th century building that hosts Espace Aygo. The five-person collective renovated the four-storey townhouse to create a stunning, surreal working and living artists’ space. Salvaged materials and everyday household objects bolstered the vast upcycling and redecorating project, each room with its own spirit: grotto-like bookshelves, a pink cloud of a bed with a fuzzy ceiling fresco like the fur of an anime character, a womb-like bath coated in urethane rubber. It’s a thrilling space run by a super friendly group, that speaks to the potential of a truly creative, sustainable practice, and encourages boundless imagination for your own personal spaces. When I ask around for somewhere to dance, I’m directed to the modernist office tower block that houses Bodies In Space, a temporary multidisciplinary artist residence and events spot hosting queer parties, techno nights, and improvisational dance shows.
Even Brussels’s long established gallery settings are spaces for innovation, with homegrown and international talent. Contemporary art gallery Xavier Hufkens has three locations in Brussels—when I visited its Van Eyck outpost, I caught the Nathanaëlle Herbelin show, with intimate paintings of grief and small, fleeting moments of connection. To mark its 35th anniversary back in 2022, the St-Georges Xavier Hufkens location expanded its minimal, light-splashed space to almost triple the size. Designed by Robbrecht en Daem, its monolithic concrete structure is entirely carbon-neutral. The once-roving Belgian gallery Objects With Narratives found its home in the historic, opulent Place du Grand Sablon in 2024, situating the richly textured metal works of Middernacht Alexander and Ben Storms’s sculptural marble furniture in a Baroque ballroom space. And uniting many in the local scene is Collectible, an annual fair that showcases 21st century design and emerging craftspeople. More than a few people recommended the Fashion Lace Museum’s ongoing exhibition about Stijl, the celebrated, artistic movement-galvanizing local boutique (which you can still visit) that has championed contemporary Belgian fashion for over four decades—on through 2026.
While Antwerp is considered the Belgian fashion capital, Brussels also punches above its weight with tightly curated concept stores and adventurous vintage warrens. Just a year in its physical space on Rue de Vergnies, Prose Studio houses a small collection of both Y2K-era fashion and more classic brands like Max Mara and Anne Fontaine, as well as contemporary jewelry from Justine Clenquet.
The city’s chefs are also pushing palettes. At the Brutalist concrete ensconced Kline in the Dansaert neighborhood, the food is zero waste, “locally sourced and globally inspired,” with zingy Kingfish ceviche and chimichurri-drenched pork skewers. At Nyyó in the cool Châtelain neighborhood, Vietnamese is done tapas-style. Surrounded by gothic melting candles and mountains of whipped butter studded with knives, natural wines and playful small plates fly out from the buzzy open kitchen of NightShop.
Pulling out of Brussels-Midi on the Eurostar on a warm spring Sunday—and with The Standard set to attract a new swell of creative visitors over the summer ahead—I feel like I’m leaving a party that’s only just getting started.
