On the corner of Avenue Louise and Avenue Émile De Mot in Brussels, a skyscraper draws all the attention. Especially now that mountaineers have recreated it in Europe's largest mural.
From 1968 to 1971, the American multinational and telecommunications giant ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph) commissioned the construction of a 102m-tall office building in a modernist and international style, typical of that period, on the prestigious Avenue Louise in Brussels.
The construction consists of two dissimilar but connected towers. In the first, 25 storeys surrounded by an exoskeleton of black aluminium, companies can rent the renovated plateaus and furnish them according to their own taste. But it is the second, the blind concrete tower with elevator shafts, stairs and sanitary facilities, that is being worked on.
The owner, AG Real Estate, hired three internationally renowned street artists to create an impressive work of art: Ground Up. 1,300 vinyl stickers are covering no less than 4,100m² of wall. This makes it the largest mural ever made and applied in Europe.
The 57-year-old New Yorker Charles Hargrove, alias Kool Koor, is one of the three Ground Up graffiti artists. He has been in the business for 40 years, exhibited in Brussels for the first time in 1984 and has evolved from the underground to the professional scene. Here with us, you can even admire his work at the Museum of Fine Arts in Mons. Lovers of this art form now know where to go.