{"id":3085,"date":"2026-08-23T22:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/neo-hokusai-unfurls-in-brussels-grand-place-with-750000-dahlias\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T22:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T22:31:46","slug":"neo-hokusai-unfurls-in-brussels-grand-place-with-750000-dahlias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/neo-hokusai-unfurls-in-brussels-grand-place-with-750000-dahlias\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Neo Hokusai\u2019 Unfurls in Brussels\u2019 Grand-Place with 750,000 Dahlias"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brussels\u2019 landmark Grand-Place transformed once again this summer as the Flower Carpet returned for its <strong>24th edition<\/strong>. From <strong>August 13 to 16<\/strong>, the vast square staged a vivid salute to cultural exchange, marking <strong>160 years<\/strong> of friendship between the nation and Japan. The city invited artist <strong>Hiro Sugiyama<\/strong> to conceive a new, plaza-spanning composition\u2014an homage to ukiyo-e master <strong>Katsush i ka Hokusai<\/strong>\u2014realized entirely in fresh blooms.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:left\">A floral homage to Hokusai<\/h2>\n<p>Titled <strong>\u201cNeo Hokusai,\u201d<\/strong> the design assembled more than <strong>750,000<\/strong> dahlias across nearly <strong>14,000 square feet<\/strong>. At its center, a reimagining of <strong>The Great Wave Off Kanagawa<\/strong>\u2014from <em>Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1830-1832)<\/em>\u2014surges across the square in saturated bands of <strong>magenta<\/strong>, <strong>vermilion<\/strong>, and <strong>yellow<\/strong>, edged by ornate, rhythmic borders. Approximately <strong>80 percent<\/strong> of the layout was composed of flowers, turning the cobblestones into a temporary canvas whose scale could be grasped from surrounding balconies and high vantage points.<\/p>\n<p>While dahlias dominate this year\u2019s spectacle, the palette of species has shifted over time. The <strong>2024<\/strong> edition also embraced the flower\u2019s voluminous forms, and in <strong>2018<\/strong> the carpet focused on <strong>Guanajuato<\/strong> using <strong>one million<\/strong> begonias\u2014an effort documented by <strong>Joerg Daiber<\/strong> in an aerial timelapse. Such variations underscore how the event continually retools its materials to suit each theme and collaborator.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align:left\">Tradition, sourcing, and community<\/h2>\n<p>To realize <em>Neo Hokusai<\/em>, organizers partnered with <strong>Bloemencorso Loenhout<\/strong>, a giant flower parade in the northern city of <strong>Loenhout<\/strong> known for its intricate dahlia constructions. This year, the parade kicks off on <strong>September 12<\/strong>, linking the Grand-Place\u2019s ephemeral tableau to a wider regional network of floral craftsmanship.<\/p>\n<p>Set in the heart of Belgium\u2019s capital\u2014also the hub of the <strong>European Union<\/strong>\u2014the Flower Carpet channels art, community, and diplomacy into a shared civic moment. As the petals begin to fade, what lingers is the memory of a city square temporarily remade into a luminous tribute to Hokusai and a gesture of international friendship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>V\u00eda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2026\/08\/brussels-grand-place-flower-carpet-dahlias-hokusai\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">thisiscolossal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From August 13 to 16, Brussels\u2019 Grand-Place hosted the 24th Flower Carpet, unveiling Hiro Sugiyama\u2019s \u201cNeo Hokusai,\u201d a 14,000-square-foot design of more than 750,000 dahlias marking 160 years of friendship between the nation and Japan. The project reimagined The Great Wave Off Kanagawa and partnered with Bloemencorso Loenhout, with the parade kicking off on September 12.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happening-now"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.echoartfoundation.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}