City Parks by Christopher Beanland

Author:Christopher Beanland [Beanland, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Batsford

Laeken Park sits to the east of the Heysel Plateau, offering conventional greenery and water features and plenty of places to picnic. But at Heysel’s centre sits a magnificent memory of why this place was so important – the Atomium. Its huge balls were the focal point for the 1958 Expo – one of the most important events of modern architecture, which laid out in detail what the rapidly approaching 1960s were going to look like as the world totally transformed into a global system with cars, computers, airports, skyscrapers and mass housing all making their swaggering mark on society. To walk these tree-lined avenues during that year must have been delicious; it’s a scene Jonathan Coe paints with panache in his bravura novel Expo 58. And even before that point Heysel was a centre for design: the clean lines of the buildings from the 1935 World’s Fair scintillate, the city’s Design Museum is based here; and there’s of course a football stadium synonymous with the tragedy of the 1985 European Cup Final. Oh, and a miniature version of all the countries of Europe. No Smurfs, though. If you are hungry go to the Quick branch here for one of their bonkers burgers served between two bits of toast, the esteemed Quick N Toast.

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