© Ulrich Schwarz
The Wintercircus in Ghent is a monument to the second glance: you have to look closer to get a true sense of its dimensions behind the rows of buildings surrounding it. Built in 1894 to plans by Emile de Weerdt, then rebuilt by Pascal Ledoux after a major fire in 1923, the circus complex expanded over the years into all the gaps in the block. Its centrepiece is a circular hall with the dimensions of the Pantheon in Rome. Surrounding that is a conglomerate of ancillary rooms and former stables, reaching two stories deep underground.