Palais de Expositions, Brussels

I have been working on a very exciting project with the President of the Art Deco Society, Robin Grow, over the past few months and hopefully I can tell you more later in the year.

However, the other day when I met up with him, he had a cutting advertising the 1935 Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles with a drawing of a building that I recognised immediately and answered a question I've had for about 8 years.

One very dreary weekend I visited Brussels. It was grey, overcast and snowy. Snow in the mountain forests is white, pristine and dreamy. By mid-morning in the city, snow is black, mushy and unpleasant.

My cousin had recommended that I check out the Atomium. He had visited as a schoolboy and I hope it was better when he visited because to me it really fitted in with the dreary theme of the weekend.

It was built for the 1958 Brussels Expo so it would have been relatively new when he saw it. Perhaps it is better now that it is 50 years old.

Anyway, at the other end of the avenue was this fabulous building. I didn't know what it was and it was too cold and dreary to go and investigate so I zoomed in as far as I could and took this picture.

Now, thanks to Robin, I know that it is the Palais de Expositions, or Grand Palais. It was designed for the 1935 Expo by Joseph Van Neck, was also used during the 1958 Expo and is still in use today.

Back in 1935, the Exposition Universelle et Internationale Bruxelles ran from April to November and hosted about 20 million visitors.

I wished I'd braved the cold and done a bit more exploring now.