Today I went to the Bozar for an exhibition entitled ‘Brussels 2040; three visions for a metropolis.’ Three teams of architects had been invited to brainstorm and their competing visions were on show. They contrasted interestingly. One team was for a compact, densified, greener Brussels, ‘re-taken’ by its citizens. One was for a ‘horizontal metropolis’, a ‘knot’ of networks at the heart of a connurban sprawl stretching from Lille to Rotterdam to Cologne. And one was for ‘double Brussels’, by which they meant a small metropolis but a global one, at the barycentre of the Euro-delta and subject simultaneously to centripetal and centrifugal forces. From the Bozar we went to visit the nearby Coudenberg palace remains. This is a wonderful experience. Once, where the Place Royale now stands, there was a huge palace complex, latterly belonging to Charles V. After a disastrous fire destroyed the palace in 1731 the hilltop was levelled upwards and hence the remains of much of the ancient palace complex, including a whole street and the cellars of the chapel and the banqueting house, were preserved for centuries until excavated and put on show. If you like secret passages and the whole concept of secret Brussels, you’ll love this place. It is in any case well worth a visit.