Brussels International Exposition (1935)

1935 Brussels
Palais des Expositions built for the exhibition (2008)
Overview
BIE-class Universal exposition
Category First category General Exposition
Name Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles
Building Palais des Expositions
Area 150 hectares (370 acres)
Visitors 20,000,000
Organized by Joseph van Neck
Participant(s)
Countries 24
Location
Country Belgium
City Brussels
Venue Heysel Park
Coordinates 50°53′50″N 04°20′21″E / 50.89722°N 4.33917°E / 50.89722; 4.33917
Timeline
Opening 27 April 1935 (1935-04-27)
Closure 25 November 1935 (1935-11-25)
Universal expositions
Previous Century of Progress in Chicago
Next Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris
Specialized Expositions
Next ILIS 1936 in Stockholm

The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 (French: Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles de 1935) a Universal exhibition held in Heysel, near Brussels in Belgium, between 27 April and 6 November 1935.

History

Officially sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions, twenty-five countries officially participated and a further five were unofficially represented. The theme was colonization, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Congo Free State.

The expo attracted some twenty million visitors. Belgian architect Joseph van Neck was the principal architect of the fair and of the Art Deco Palais des Expositions (also known as the Grand Palais), with its interior concrete parabolic arches, and four heroic bronze statues on piers.

Among many other contributors, Le Corbusier designed part of the French exhibit; the Belgian modernist architect, Victor Bourgeois, designed the Grand Palace, the Leopold II Restaurant and the Soprocol Pavilion. The Belgian art exposition prominently displayed the work of contemporary Belgian artists, including Paul Delvaux, René Magritte and Louis Van Lint, boosting their careers.

The Palais des Expositions, and at least three other of the 1935 structures, were re-used for Expo '58 which was held at the same site in 1958.

See also

Further reading

  • Michel MARY, Adrien Van der Burch, Commissaire général près l'Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles 1935 in Annales du Cercle royal d'histoire et d'archéologie du Canton de Soignies, XXXVII, 2004;


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