The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1935, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1935) was a

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

held between 27 April and 6 November 1935 on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium.

History

The 1935 World's Fair was the tenth

hosted by Belgium, and the fourth in Brussels, following the fairs in 1888,

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

and

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

. Officially sanctioned by the

Bureau International des Expositions The Bureau international des expositions (BIE; English: International Bureau of Expositions) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos or world expos) falling under the jurisdiction ...

(BIE), twenty-five countries officially participated and a further five were unofficially represented. The theme was colonisation, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leop ...

. The exhibition attracted some twenty million visitors. The Belgian architect

Joseph van Neck Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

was the principal architect of the fair and of the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

''Palais des Expositions'' (also known as the ''Grand Palais''), with its interior concrete parabolic arches, and four heroic

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

statues on piers. Among many other contributors,

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

designed part of the French exhibit; the Belgian modernist architect Victor Bourgeois designed the ''Palais des Expositions'' (or ''Grand Palais''), 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 René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...

and Louis Van Lint, boosting their careers. The ''Palais des Expositions'', and at least three other of the 1935 structures, were re-used for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair ( Expo '58), which was held on the same site in 1958.

Gallery

File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-A.jpg, The main entrance File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-C.jpg, General view File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-D.jpg, View towards the ''Palais des Expositions'' File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-F.jpg, The ''Catholic life'' pavilion

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Official website of the BIE

BIE description
(PDF) {{Authority control World's fairs in Brussels 1935 in Belgium 1930s in Brussels Events in Brussels