Brussels International Exposition (1935)

The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 (French: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1935, Dutch: Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1935) was a world's fair held between 27 April and 6 November 1935 on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Belgium.

1935 Brussels
The Palais des Expositions (or Grand Palais) during the 1935 Brussels World's Fair
Overview
BIE-class	Universal exposition
Category	First category General Exposition
Name	Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles
Building(s)	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/Heizel Plateau
Coordinates	50°53′50″N 04°20′21″E
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

History

The 1935 World's Fair was the tenth world's fair hosted by Belgium, and the fourth in Brussels, following the fairs in 1888, 1897 and 1910. Officially sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (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.

The exhibition attracted some twenty million visitors. The 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 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 and Louis Van Lint, boosting their careers.

The exhibition was photographed in colour by the Dutch photographer Bernard F. Eilers, which was a novelty in 1935.

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. Currently, it is home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo), the city's most important event complex in Belgium and the largest exhibition space in the Benelux.

Gallery

• 
  The main entrance
• 
  General view
• 
  View towards the Palais des Expositions
• 
  The Catholic life pavilion

See also

• Leo Marfurt, who designed the poster for the exhibition
• Brussels Expo

References

Bibliography

• Coomans, Thomas (1991). "Le Grand Palais du Heysel à Bruxelles (1931-1935), compromis entre monumentalisme et technicité". Maisons d'hier et d'aujourd'hui (in French). 91: 2–17.
• Dumont, Georges-Henri (1979). 150 ans d'expansion et de colonisation (in French). Brussels: Édition Paul Legrain.
• Lambotte, Paul; Pargameni, Charles (1935). Exposition universelle et internationale Bruxelles 1935 : avril-novembre (in French). Brussels: C. Van Cortenbergh.
• Mary, Michel (2004). "Adrien van der Burch, Commissaire général près l'Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles 1935". Annales du Cercle royal d'histoire et d'archéologie du Canton de Soignies (in French). XXXVII.
• Pacchiani, Serena (2022). "La section italienne à l'Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles en 1935: vitrine du régime fasciste ou miroir des industries?". Revue Belge d'Histoire Contemporaine (in French). 52 (3). Brussels: 66–84.
• Schroeder-Gudehus, Brigitte; Rasmussen, Anne (1992). Les fastes du progrès : le guide des expositions universelles 1851-1992 (in French). Paris: Flammarion.

External links

• Official website of the BIE
• BIE description (PDF) (in French)