American Pavilion

From the outset, this route plunges us into the world of exhibitions which, from the end of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, left their mark on the city of Brussels. The building with a circular base that stands on the starting point of this route is none other than the former pavilion of the American delegation, which travelled to Brussels for the 1958 Works Expo. With a circumference of 364 m and a diameter of 116 m, dimensions comparable to those of the Colosseum in Rome, the pavilion was, at the time, considered the largest circular building in the world. The main building was flanked by two smaller circular buildings: an American theatre, the first to become visible on our route, and a ‘circarama’, a circular 360° screen allowing visitors to fully immerse themselves in the American lifestyle. The circarama was demolished the day after the exhibition, as was the large oval pool in the centre of a triangular esplanade that was once located right in front of the main entrance. One element remains, however: the oval pool had a mobile structure at its centre called ‘The Whirling Ear’, created for the occasion by a certain Alexander Calder. The sculpture has since found a new home at the top of Mont des Arts. We will have the opportunity to contemplate it further along the route. Other pavilions, replicas of buildings erected in Paris for the 1900 World Expo, are located not far from the starting point. You can reach them by simply walking along avenue de Madrid towards node 18.

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