Cover Image Credits: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Happy New Year! And nothing beats fresh flowers to start off the New Year.
The 77 m x 24 m Flower Carpet is a spectacle held on the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. Every other summer on the weekend of August 15th, over 600,000 begonia flowers are assembled by some hundred volunteers within 4 hours. 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 previous design in 2012 was based on the patterns of brightly-coloured African textiles.
Picture: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Picture: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
The non-profit association Tapis de Fleurs brings together a committee of professionals (illustrators, graphic designers, landscape architects) who come up with scale projects, with each edition illustrating a different theme (the commemoration of major events, a country, a continent, the coat of arms of a city, etc.). Once the theme has taken shape in the form of a model and symbols, the number of flowers is calculated and the combinations of colours are established. The hundreds of thousands of cut flowers necessary for the composition can then be reserved, very long in advance. Several days before the inauguration, a full-size drawing is executed on sheets of micro-perforated plastic that are laid down atop the cobblestones of the Grand-Place. The works can then begin.
Picture: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Picture: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Picture: EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Picture: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Picture: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Picture: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex Features
So what are you waiting for? The next flower carpet is on show this year and don’t forget to complete the experience by visiting the balcony of the town hall, which offers the wide angle view of this fabulous work.