• Citer

Modern wood.: De Coene at Expo 58

par Devos, Rika ;Flore, Fredie
Référence Construction history, 24, page (103-120)
Publication Publié, 2009

Article révisé par les pairs

• Accès en ligne
• Détails
• Contenu
• Statistiques

Résumé :

To the Belgian wood firm De Coene, the 1958 world’s fair (Brussels) or Expo 58 functioned as a multifaceted promotion of its renewed profile: a celebrated furniture producer in the interwar period, the company had reoriented its activities mainly towards the building industries. Especially its glued laminated timber (glulams) proved to be a challenging and competitive construction element. De Coene’s involvement with Expo 58 resulted in 23 daring and imaginative constructions, several of which were noticed in the national and international specialists’ press. This paper highlights the surprising dominance and architectonic innovations of De Coene at Expo 58 in the context of building in Belgium in the post-war years. By focusing on the impact of the local building industry, it adds a new approach to the architectural and construction history of world’s fairs.