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Copyright: Le Memorial officiel de l'Exposition universelle et internationale de Bruxelles 1958-1962, Bd. 4, S.

Whether the architectural contributions would introduce the beginning of a new era of interior design, or merely represented an incredible sensationalism by means of repackaging tried and tested constructional principles, was the subject of animated discussion in the specialised circles of the time. The criticism ranged from an accusation of “neo-expressionist trapeze acrobatics” to denouncements as superficial “fairground sensations”.

In many of the geometrically audacious buildings, which were characterised by transparency and dynamism in the multiple-curved surfaces and suspended structures, one recognises an approach that strives to achieve an overall sculptural effect rather than any conceptual organisation of the objects exhibited within. Thus the achievements of the architecture and its symbolic language become the focal point of the exhibition. It was not always man who was the measure of these edifices, but rather the demonstration of the unlimited technical possibilities and hence the illustration of the mood of awakening to a new age.

The Belgian organisational committee faced a difficult task in 1958. On the one hand, it was intended that the exhibition express this very positive mood of awakening, but at the same time, however, critical treatment of the consequences of technological progress was demanded. Controversy was raging over use of atomic energy. The political situation after the war was one of tension between the eastern bloc and the western powers, and the Cold War was fuelling the arms race between East and West. This conflict was also reflected in the speech given by the Belgian king, Baudouin, at the opening of the exhibition.

In view of all this, the question has to be asked as to whether a world exhibition was still a communication medium appropriate for the age. Parts of the Belgian exhibition as well as other contributions reflected the 19th century approach of providing, in a single place, entertaining access to the entire world in model form. The presentation of the Belgian colonial regions in an age of decolonisation – two years later the Congo gained independence – the theme-park architecture of the model buildings of a small Belgian town, and “Little Holland” in the Dutch pavilion, with its models of a dike, a lighthouse and the simulated swell of the sea, were reminiscent of the exhibitions of times gone by. In spite of the fact that the limitations of this method of communication had already been fully recognised even after the Paris World Exhibition of 1937, no decisive reform of the approximately 100-year-old concept of the world exhibition had been implemented in time for Brussels 1958. In its collection of monuments, the international exchange of ideas remained superficially faithful to traditional forms. Although a humanitarian and pacifist approach was represented in Brussels, the event was used for the demonstration of national economic growth or for the propaganda of competing political systems, as was shown by the pavilions of the USA and of the Soviet Union. This fair, with its colourfully illuminated waterworks and moving and flashing chains of lights on structures of fanciful and unusual shape, nevertheless lent this first meeting of the nations at a world exhibition since the Second World War a cheerful air, which it was hoped would herald a peaceful future.


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The Brussels World Exposition 1958
The Belgian Exhibition Concept
Year: 1958City: BrusselsCountry: Belgium
Duration: 17th April - 19 October 1958

 

 

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