http://www.odditycentral.com/page/104 The Giant Flower Carpet of Brussels By Spooky on August 20th, 2008 Category: Art, Pics, Travel LIKE DISLIKE 20 Comments Stumble it Icon digg it Icon Once every two years, the Grand Place, a central market in Brussles, Belgium becomes one of the largest flower gardens in the world. This year people could admire a beautiful flower carpet between the 14th and 17th of August, for those of you that missed it, there’s always two years from now. The flower carpet of Grand Place has a different model every time and it’s made out of roughly 700,000 begonias. This is definitely one of the must see- attractions of Brussels. http://www.flowercarpet.be/site/main.php?lg=en The flower carpet through the years, its construction, history, etc. MAKING A CARPET Making a Carpet The actual making of the Carpet is based on a plan worked out in advance, consisting of several stages. Everything starts, often a year in advance, with projects and scale models, illustrating a commissioned theme (such as the commemoration of great events, or the arms and shield of a town, and sometimes the proposals of local horticultural associations). Once the theme has been produced in representation and symbol, the number of flowers and color combinations calculated and the outlines finally drawn on the ground, then the work starts.The skilful, dedicated work of a hundred experienced gardeners and their enthusiasm enables them to put together this giant floral jigsaw in under four hours. The day before, the spaces between the floral patterns will already have been filled with rolled turf. (photo prep 1) Did you know - that the flowers are packed together one by one, 300 to every square meter of the ground, (+/- 750.000 flowers!) so tightly (no soil is used at all) that they won't be blown away by the first puff of wind, and create their own microclimate? In heat waves, the turf has to be watered to prevent it from shrinking, but if the weather is too wet, the grass can grow 4 to 5 centimeters in 3 days? The wonders of nature! HISTORY History Officially, the first Floral Carpet as its present-day form was created in 1971 on the Grand-Place by the landscape architect E. Stautemans, but, in fact, it was the culmination of a whole series created in various towns in Flanders. E. Stautemans, who was born in Zottegem, and graduated from the Ghent Horticultural College, had been experimenting since the early 50's making simple small carpets, more like rugs, mainly consisting of begonias (in Knokke, Oudenaarde, Sint-Niklaas, Lille…). He very quickly realised that floral carpets would be an excellent vehicle for the promotion of his beloved begonias which he had always worked with, both technically, economically and aesthetically. After years of attempts and calculations, this architect, who was inventive and imaginative, and knew how to make the most of the numerous resources of begonias, became an expert in the creation of superb floral carpets with sophisticated colors and complicated designs. His fame spread and he was asked to make carpets not only in Belgium (Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Ypres, Courtrai, Hasselt, Tongres, Mons, Durbuy, …) but worldwide (Cologne, Hamburg, Luxemburg, Paris, London, Breda, Amsterdam, The Hague, Vienna, Valencia, and as far afield as Buenos Aires and Colombus, Ohio). Some of these carpets were bigger than the ones created in Brussels (77 x 24 m), like the 1973 masterpiece at Sint-Pietersplein, Ghent that reached a gigantic 164 x 42 m. However, as E. Stautemas himself says, "Nowhere is the carpet more beautiful and distinguished than in the unique, ancient surroundings of the Grand-Place in Brussels". The Begonias The beauty and diversity of all these Carpets is largely due to their main component, the famous begonia. Chosen above all for its qualities of robustness, resistance to bad weather and strong sunshine the begonia guarantees the long life and freshness of the carpet. It also gives it is rich range of colors - from vivid colors to delicate pastel shades, with in between, the parti-colored and white flowers which reflect the light so well. This flower, the ideal ornament, which is already traditionally used in pageants and floral corsages, is also much loved by householders who use them to brighten their balconies and windowsills and embellish their flowerbeds. 80 % of the total production of begonias, a native of the West Indies, cultivated almost exclusively in the Ghent area since 1860, is exported. Belgium cultivates 60 million begonia tubers every year, and is recognized as the world's largest producer. The Netherlands, France and the United States are its best customers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y_zLimU6EY Video http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Place The Grand Place and the Flower Carpet http://www.opt.be/informations/events_bruxelles__flower_carpet_on_the_grand_place_of_brussels/en/E/19372.html The Belgian Tourist Office A million begonias for... one single carpet? This is certainly an extraordinary achievement. The famous Carpet of Flowers covers 1,800 m² right in the centre of the Grand Place. These flowers offer a wide range of vivid and glowing colours and easily resist the burning sun. After all, the craftsmen assemble them directly on the cobble-stones of the square without a layer of soil. The coloured plant tapestry can be admired best from the balcony of the City Hall, which is open to the public for the occasion. http://www.brussels.be/artdet.cfm?id=4310 The City of Brussels Web Site The Flower carpet This page has been automatically translated from French into English by a translation software. Automatic translations are not as accurate as translations made by professional human translators. Nevertheless these pages can help you understand information published by the City of Brussels. Every 2 years, the Grand-Place of Brussels is covered with a carpet of flowers. These flowers are begonias. The story of the Brussels Flower carpet Officially, the first flower carpet was born in 1971 on the Grand-Place. It was the work of the landscape architect E. Stautemans, who was inspired by other carpets created in diverse Flemish cities. The peculiarity of the Brussels Flower carpet is of course its place on the Grand-Place. The manufacturing of the carpet Flower Carpet 2010 © Louis Dewame This carpet of 77 m X 24 m is realized in several stages. It is planned one year in advance. Projects with scale reproductions are elaborated on the basis of the subject. The number of flowers and the combinations of colors are then determined. The life-size drawing of the carpet is put on a transparent and micro-drilled plastic sheet. The carpet then has to be made by approximately 120 volunteers who install near a million begonias (at the rate of 300 by m3) within 4 hours. A carpet during a weekend The Flower carpet is installed only for 1 weekend (Assumption Day). The access to the Grand-Place is free. A panoramic visit (with access to the City Hall - 3 euro) can also be made.