In 1871, the mayor Jules Anspach decided to endow Brussels with a centre in keeping with its status as a capital. The French architects employed a Haussmannian model and used stone, a novelty in brick-built Brussels! If the square sung about by Brel has lost some of its architectural homogeneity, it retains some fine façades (former hotel Continental on the north side, neo-Classical UGC building on the west side) and remains a hub of city life.